Oral tranexamic acid for immediate use in major trauma: implications for mass casualty events.

Abstract

The early administration of tranexamic acid is recognised as significantly reducing mortality in traumatically injured patients with major haemorrhage, typically given via intravenous or intramuscular routes. In the context of mass casualty events, there may exist multiple traumatically injured casualties that would benefit from tranexamic acid, however, it's administration may be delayed through the need to establish intravenous access. Additionally, if the initial assessment of the traumatically injured casualty is undertaken by an individual who cannot administer intravenous or intramuscular medications, time to administration will be further delayed. This concepts paper seeks to discuss the potential for utilising oral tranexamic acid, in the context of mass casualty events, as an alternative administration route.