1.
Efficacy and safety of tranexamic acid administration in traumatic brain injury patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Yokobori S, Yatabe T, Kondo Y, Kinoshita K
J Intensive Care. 2020;8:46
Abstract
Background: The exacerbation of intracranial bleeding is critical in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been used to improve outcomes in TBI patient. However, the effectiveness of TXA treatment remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the effect of administration of TXA on clinical outcomes in patients with TBI by systematically reviewing the literature and synthesizing evidence of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Igaku Chuo Zasshi (ICHUSHI) Web were searched. Selection criteria included randomized controlled trials with clinical outcomes of adult TBI patients administered TXA or placebo within 24 h after admission. Two investigators independently screened citations and conducted data extraction. The primary "critical" outcome was all-cause mortality. The secondary "important" outcomes were good neurological outcome rates, enlargement of bleeding, incidence of ischemia, and hemorrhagic intracranial complications. Random effect estimators with weights calculated by the inverse variance method were used to report risk ratios (RRs). Results: A total of 640 records were screened. Seven studies were included for quantitative analysis. Of 10,044 patients from seven of the included studies, 5076 were randomly assigned to the TXA treatment group, and 4968 were assigned to placebo. In the TXA treatment group, 914 patients (18.0%) died, while 961 patients (19.3%) died in the placebo group. There was no significant difference between groups (RR, 0.93; 95% confidence interval, 0.86-1.01). No significant differences between the groups in other important outcomes were also observed. Conclusions: TXA treatment demonstrated a tendency to reduce head trauma-related deaths in the TBI population, with no significant incidence of thromboembolic events. TXA treatment may therefore be suggested in the initial TBI care.
2.
Liberal versus restrictive red blood cell transfusion strategy in sepsis or septic shock: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials
Hirano Y, Miyoshi Y, Kondo Y, Okamoto K, Tanaka H
Critical care (London, England). 2019;23(1):262
Abstract
BACKGROUND We assessed the effect of liberal versus restrictive red blood cell transfusion strategy on survival outcome in sepsis or septic shock by systematically reviewing the literature and synthesizing evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS We searched the MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science databases. We included RCTs that compared mortality between a liberal transfusion strategy with a hemoglobin threshold of 9 or 10 g/dL and a restrictive transfusion strategy with a hemoglobin threshold of 7 g/dL in adults with sepsis or septic shock. Two investigators independently screened citations and conducted data extraction. The primary outcome was 28- or 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes were 60- and 90-day mortality, use of life support at 28 days of admission, and number of patients transfused during their intensive care unit stay. DerSimonian-Laird random-effects models were used to report pooled odds ratios (ORs). RESULTS A total of 1516 patients from three RCTs were included; 749 were randomly assigned to the liberal transfusion group and 767 to the restrictive strategy group. Within 28-30 days, 273 patients (36.4%) died in the liberal transfusion group, while 278 (36.2%) died in the restrictive transfusion group (pooled OR, 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.67-1.46). For the primary outcome, heterogeneity was observed among the studies (I(2) = 61.0%, chi(2) = 5.13, p = 0.08). For secondary outcomes, only two RCTs were included. There were no significant differences in secondary outcomes between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS We could not show any difference in 28- or 30-day mortality between the liberal and restrictive transfusion strategies in sepsis or septic shock patients by meta-analysis of RCTs. Our results should be interpreted with caution due to the existence of heterogeneity. As sepsis complicates a potentially wide range of underlying diseases, further trials in carefully selected populations are anticipated. TRIAL REGISTRATION This present study was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42018108578).