Tranexamic acid (TXA) is an antifibrinolytic pharmacological agent, but its use in gastrointestinal bleeding remains contentious. Moreover, studies on the timing of TXA administration are limited. We examined whether early TXA administration reduced the risk of mortality in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding in a Taiwanese population. We used the National Health Insurance Research Database to identify patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal bleeding with early and late TXA treatment. We defined early treatment as initial TXA treatment in an emergency department and late treatment as initial TXA treatment after hospitalization. Mortality within 52 weeks was the primary outcome. A multivariable analysis using a multiple Cox regression model was applied for data analysis. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to reduce the potential for bias caused by measured confounding variables. Of the 52,949 selected patients with gastrointestinal bleeding, 5127 were assigned to either an early or late TXA treatment group after PSM. The incidence of mortality was significantly decreased during the first and fourth weeks (adjusted HR (aHR): 0.65, 95% CI: 0.56−0.75). A Kaplan−Meier curve revealed a significant decrease in cumulative incidence of mortality in the early TXA treatment group (log-rank test: p < 0.0001). Multiple Cox regression analysis revealed significantly lower mortality in the early TXA treatment group compared with the late treatment group (aHR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.57−0.73). Thromboembolic events were not significantly associated with early or late TXA treatment (aHR: 1.03, 95% CI: 0.94−1.12). A Kaplan−Meier curve also revealed no significant difference in either venous or arterial events (log-rank test: p = 0.3654 and 0.0975, respectively). In conclusion, early TXA treatment was associated with a reduced risk of mortality in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding compared with late treatment, without an increase in thromboembolic events. The risk of rebleeding and need for urgent endoscopic intervention require further randomized clinical trials.
Keywords: gastrointestinal bleeding; mortality; thromboembolic events; tranexamic acid.