The safety and efficiency of intravenous administration of tranexamic acid in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG): a meta-analysis of 28 randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND: The safety and efficiency of intravenous administration of tranexamic acid (TXA) in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains unconfirmed. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis on this topic. METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PUBMED and EMBASE for randomized controlled trials on the topic. The results of this work are synthetized and reported in accordance with the PRISMA statement. RESULTS: Twenty-eight studies met our inclusion criteria. TXA reduced the incidence of postoperative reoperation of bleeding (relative risk [RR], 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.31–0.68), the frequency of any allogeneic transfusion (RR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.52–0.78) and the postoperative chest tube drainage in the first 24 h by 206 ml (95% CI − 248.23 to − 164.15). TXA did not significantly affect the incidence of postoperative cerebrovascular accident (RR, 0.93; 95%CI, 0.62–1.39), mortality (RR, 0.82; 95%CI, 0.53–1.28), myocardial infarction (RR, 0.90; 95%CI, 0.78–1.05), acute renal insufficiency (RR, 1.01; 95%CI, 0.77–1.32). However, it may increase the incidence of postoperative seizures (RR, 6.67; 95%CI, 1.77–25.20). Moreover, the subgroup analyses in on-pump and off-pump CABG, the sensitivity analyses in trials randomized more than 99 participants and sensitivity analyses that excluded the study with the largest number of participants further strengthened the above results. CONCLUSIONS: TXA is effective to reduce reoperation for bleeding, blood loss and the need for allogeneic blood products in patients undergoing CABG without increasing prothrombotic complication. However, it may increase the risk of postoperative seizures. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12871-019-0761-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.