Menorrhagia is a heavy menstrual bleeding that exceeds 80 ml during a cycle. It can also be defined as a regular heavy cycle that affects the quality of life. It affects 10 % of all women in fertile age, but is most common between the ages of 30-40 years. Symptoms are tiredness, anemia and impaired quality of life. About 50 % of the cases are idiopathic, but it can also be due to systemic illness, abnormalities in endometrium or be iatrogenic. Tranexamic acid is a well-known antifibrinolytic drug. It inhibits plasmin, resulting in a reduction of the blood loss during a cycle. It can also improve the negative impact that is connected to heavy menstruation. Common side effects are nausea and vomiting. The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of tranexamic acid on blood loss and quality of life in women with menorrhagia. It was a literature study based on five studies from the database PubMed. All studies used reduced blood loss as a primary endpoint and impact on quality of life as a secondary endpoint. The outcome was presented with average scores for the treated groups. Two studies had a group that received tranexamic acid 3,9 g and a group that received placebo. They showed that tranexamic acid gives a statistically significant reduction of blood loss and improvement of quality of life compared to placebo. The reduction of blood loss was considered to be meaningful for the participants. Three studies, which lacked a placebo group, showed that tranexamic acid 2,0 g and 3,0 g gives a significant reduction of blood loss compared to before treatment started. They also showed an improvement in quality of life. In conclusion, treatment with tranexamic acid showed a significant effect on both blood loss and quality of life.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-52489 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Ivarsson, Veronika |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kemi och biomedicin (KOB) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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