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The use of tranexamic acid in stroke has been approved
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Tranexamic acid is a well-known drug for stopping post-traumatic and postpartum bleeding. It turned out that this drug can be useful in hemorrhagic stroke. The study was conducted by employees of the University of Nottingham, with financial support from the NIMR (National Institute for Medical Research).
Every year, more than 150,000 Britons are hospitalized with strokes. Most of these strokes are ischemic, caused by the cessation of blood flow to a certain part of the brain. Such acute pathology is treated mainly with medications that can dissolve blood clots and restore blood flow in the affected vessel. But about 15% of patients are admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of "hemorrhagic stroke" - with such a pathology, a vessel is damaged, which in a short period of time causes irreversible changes in tissues and a fatal outcome.
Previously, scientists had already established that tranexamic acid can quickly stop bleeding in trauma and after childbirth. The new experiment was designed to test the drug's effect on patients admitted with hemorrhagic stroke.
Doctors monitored the condition of hospitalized patients who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. Some patients were unconscious at the time of admission, so specialists asked their relatives for consent. Stroke in admitted patients was determined using computed tomography.
The total duration of the study was five years. The total number of people who took part in the project was approximately two thousand. A separate portion of patients were given a "dummy" drug instead of a hemostatic drug. Repeated diagnostics were performed two, seven and ninety days after the stroke.
The results showed that the general condition of patients who were given the drug or not was no different ninety days after the stroke. But among those who received acid treatment, mortality was significantly lower during the seven days after the stroke. Tranexamic acid quickly stopped the bleeding, due to which patients had fewer complications (compared to the second group, which received a "placebo").
During the experiment, it was also found that tranexamic acid was more effective in patients with low blood pressure. In addition, the most effective treatment was observed when the drug was administered within the first three hours of the stroke. As a result, the specialists concluded that tranexamic acid has a significant positive effect on the survival rate of patients with hemorrhagic stroke.
Information provided by The Lancet.
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