A Systematic Review of the Efficacy and Safety of Tranexamic Acid in Facelift Surgery

Abstract

Tranexamic acid (TXA) has become widely utilized in different specialities including facelift surgery. The aim of this review was to robustly evaluate the quality of available evidence on the efficacy and safety of TXA use in facelift surgery. We searched the MEDLINE (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD), Embase (Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands), CINAHL (EBSCO Information Services, Ipswich, MA), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; Wiley, Hoboken, NJ), Google Scholar (Alphabet Inc. Mountain View, CA), Science Citation Index (Clarivate, London, UK), and Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (LILACS; São Paulo, Brazil) databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies. Primary outcomes were blood loss, postoperative hematoma, ecchymosis, and swelling, in addition to technical considerations and complications. We assessed review quality with the AMSTAR 2 tool, study quality with Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations approach (GRADE) tool, and the risk of bias with Cochrane's RoB 2.0 tool for RCTs and ROBINS-I for nonrandomized studies. Of the 368 articles, a total of 3 studies including 150 patients met the inclusion criteria. The RCT reported a significant reduction in postoperative serosanguineous collections in the TXA group (P < .01), and in surgeon-rated postoperative ecchymosis and bruising. The prospective cohort study reported reduced drainage output in first 24 hours in the TXA group (P < .01). The retrospective cohort study reported lower intraoperative blood loss, mean postoperative day 1 drain output, percentage of drain removal on postoperative day 1, and number of days to drain removal in the TXA group (all P < .01). The quality of studies was moderate, and this review was the highest rated compared to previous reviews, as per the AMSTAR 2 tool. Based on limited literature, TXA improves clinical outcomes regardless of the route of administration. Topical TXA is an emerging route, expediting drain removal and reducing blood loss. Future Level I high-quality studies are required.