Background: Previous studies have shown that systemic tranexamic acid reduces bleeding during soft tissue surgeries and reduces postoperative ecchymosis and edema experienced by surgical patients.
Objective: To evaluate the effect of postoperative tranexamic acid administration on the reduction of ecchymosis and edema after lipoma surgery.
Materials and methods: A total of 40 patients who underwent lipoma excision were included in the comparative analysis. In the tranexamic acid group (n = 20), 1 g of tranexamic acid was administered daily for 5 consecutive postoperative days. Tranexamic acid was not administered to the control group (n = 20). The severity of ecchymosis and edema at the first visit after surgery was rated on a 4-point scale by 2 blinded dermatologists.
Results: The mean interval of the initial visit after surgery was 1.1 ± 0.5 (range: 1-4) days. Mean ecchymosis scores were significantly lower in the tranexamic acid group (0.5 ± 0.8) than in the control group (1.2 ± 1.0) (p < .05). No statistical difference was seen in mean edema scores between groups (0.5 ± 0.6 in tranexamic acid vs 0.7 ± 0.8 in control).
Conclusion: We observed that postoperative administration of tranexamic acid significantly decreased ecchymosis in lipoma excision.
Copyright © 2021 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.