Comparative Use of Tranexamic Acid Intravenous and Topical Application in the Treatment of Intertrochanteric Fractures With Proximate Femoral Nail

An intertrochanteric (ITF) trochanteric fracture of the femur is an exclusively extra capsular fracture in which the fracture line extends from the greater trochanter to the lesser trochanter. Usually, it is an isolated fracture, related to osteoporosis, which occurs due to low-energy trauma such as a fall during gait. It is the most common fracture of the proximal femur. Its incidence has increased significantly over the past decades and is expected to double in the next 25 years, with an important global economic impact . It affects women in the seventh and eighth decades of life, an age group older than femoral neck fractures. For this reason, the mortality of intertrochanteric fractures is twice that of the femoral neck.

The treatment is surgical, in which the objective is the stable internal fixation and the patient's early ambulation. The most used materials are plates with dynamic compression screws (Dinamic Hip Screw-DHS) and intramedullary nails (specifically cephalomedullary nails or Proximate femoral nail (PFN). Patients who have suffered this fracture are at high risk for cardiovascular, pulmonary, infections and thrombosis. About a third of patients die in the first year after the injury, approximately 50% become incapable of walking alone or climbing stairs and 20% need permanent home care.

Functional outcomes and treatment mortality are related including factors perioperative anemia and blood loss. In order to prevent blood loss, many strategies have been taken, such as closed or percutaneous fracture reduction and surgical approach with minimally invasive techniques such as fixation with short intramedullary nails (PFN). Even so, even with these precautions, blood loss in this surgical procedure appears to be greater than expected, with blood loss of the order of 2100ml. It was also observed that surgeons underestimate the amount of blood lost in the perioperative period, having estimated a median difference of 1473ml between the apparent blood loss and the one that actually occurred with the use of cephalomedullary nails. Blood loss in ITF is greater than in femoral neck fractures and more often requires blood transfusions.

Blood loss management and the inherent risks of anemia can be circumvented with blood transfusion. However, blood transfusion is not without risks and complications, such as hypersensitivity and hemolytic reactions, cardiac overload, infectious diseases. Homologous transfusions are associated with prolonged hospital stay, increased costs and increased patient morbidity and mortality. Some surgeries may need to wait for the blood supply to be replenished and patients in need of phenotyped blood find it even more difficult and may wait days to weeks before finding their proper blood type.

So, alternatives have been used to avoid the use of blood such as saline solutions, use of erythropoietin and antifibrinolytic agents . Tranexamic acid (TXA) is a drug that interferes with fibrinolysis, in use for more than 50 years in surgery, particularly in cardiac surgery.