Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is a common cause of admissions at hospital emergency. Fibrinolysis may play an important role in bleeding. Tranexamic acid (TXA) is an anti-fibrinolytic agent that reduces fibrinolysis. In the present study, we sought to investigate the role of prescribing oral TXA in early hours in improving the consequences of acute GIB.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. Group A, oral TXA 1000 mg daily for three days; Group B, TXA 500 mg capsule daily for three days (TXA capsule containing 250 mg); Group C, control group receiving placebo. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20.

The study included 375 patients, 76.5% of whom were male and 23.5% were female. Rebleeding occurred in 45 patients, including 13 in the placebo group (10.3%), 10 (8%) in the TXA 500 mg group, and 12 (9%) in the TXA 1000 mg group. In the TXA 500 mg group, bleeding was significantly lower (P <0.0001). The distribution of endoscopic interventions was not significantly different among the three groups (P = 0.71)

with respect to the rate of rebleeding and mortality, absence of any significant side effects, our study confirms the positive effect of TXA on upper GIB control.