Can tranexamic acid change preoperative anemia management during total joint arthroplasty?

Figure 1 Hemoglobin levels in total hip arthroplasty using tranexamic acid. Boxplots showing median and interquartile ranges for hemoglobin levels in each group on each hospital day are shown. Both groups experienced a fall in hemoglobin following surgery and both groups had at least one patient who required transfusion on the first postoperative day. Despite the differences in starting hemoglobin, there was no significant difference between groups in rate of transfusion. THA: Total hip arthroplasty.

Figure 2 Hemoglobin levels in total knee arthroplasty using tranexamic acid. Boxplots showing median and interquartile ranges for hemoglobin levels in each group on each hospital day are shown. Both groups experienced a fall in hemoglobin following; in this case the nonanemic patients had a significant greater fall then the anemic patients at the first postoperative day (but still had a higher median hemoglobin). None of the patients in either group required transfusion. TKA: Total knee arthroplasty.