Femoral shaft nonunion is a complication that seriously affects physiological functions. We aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of short- and long-term intravenous tranexamic acid (TXA) administration in the perioperative period of revision surgery for femoral shaft nonunion. In this retrospective study, 53 patients undergoing double-locking plates with channel bone grafting technology for the treatment of femoral shaft nonunion were divided into 3 groups: the patients in group A without use TXA during hospitalization, the patients in group B received intravenous (IV) 1-g TXA at 30 min before the surgery and deep soaked 1-g TXA for 5 min before closing the incision, and then 1-g TXA IV again 6 h after surgery, and the patients in group C received 1-g TXA IV before the operation, 1-g TXA topically during the operation, and subsequent long-term 1-g TXA IV until discharged. The primary outcomes were total blood loss (TBL) and hidden blood loss (HBL). The secondary outcomes included actual hemoglobin (Hb) loss values, transfusion requirement, number of units transfused, postoperative laboratory values (Hb, hematocrit, fibrinogen, and D-dimer), visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, and hospitalization time. The mean TBL was lower in group C than in group A (1168 mL vs. 2714 mL, P < 0.001) and group B (1168 mL vs. 1557 mL, P = 0.008). The differences in HBL volumes were also significant between groups A and C (P < 0.001) and between groups A and B (P < 0.01). The actual Hb loss in the 3 groups showed a consistent trend with TBL, but no significant differences between groups B and C (P = 0.23). On postoperative day (POD) 3, the Hb level was higher in group C than in group A (111.1 g/L vs. 94.6 g/L, P = 0.02). No significant differences were found in VAS, hospital stay, thromboembolic complications, incision-related complications, and TXA adverse reactions among groups. Long-term intravenous TXA during hospitalization can effectively reduce perioperative blood loss, Hb drop, and postoperative hyperfibrinolysis, but is associated with an increased incidence of adverse reactions.
Keywords: blood loss; blood management; femoral shaft nonunion; tranexamic acid.