Major surgery can result in blood loss that can require a blood transfusion during and/or
after surgery. Tranexamic acid is a medication that was first introduced in the 1960s as a
treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding. Over the past 20 years it has been used and studied
in patients undergoing open-heart surgery, liver transplantation, and urologic surgery. We
believe tranexamic acid may possibly decrease bleeding related to major surgery, resulting in
reduced blood loss, lower blood transfusion rates, and possibly decreased hospital costs
related to your surgical hospital stay.
In this study, you will receive either the drug tranexamic acid or a placebo. The placebo
looks like the tranexamic acid, but does not have any active ingredient in it. The treatment
you get will be chosen by chance, like flipping a coin. You will have equal chance of being
given the tranexamic acid or the placebo. In this study, both the tranexamic acid and the
placebo are considered research.