A cheap and easily administered medicine which helps to stop excessive bleeding could save the lives of many thousands of accident victims across the world.

Researchers of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine studied 20.000 patients across 40 countries and found that the drug (tranexamic acid, or TXA) significantly cut death rates, suggesting it could prevent up to 100.000 untimely deaths a year worldwide if it will be used routinely.

The drug is an off-patent medicine made by several companies and costing around €3,40 ($4.50) per gram. The researchers say it should now be listed as "essential" by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"The option to use TXA should be available to doctors treating trauma patients in all countries," say Ian Roberts and Haleema Shakur of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, whose study was published in The Lancet.

Figures
Every year, more than a million people die from road injuries and traffic accidents are the ninth leading cause of death worldwide. On top of that, stabbings, shootings, land mines and other injuries kill thousands more, many of them young men.

Excessive bleeding, is responsible for about a third of trauma deaths in hospitals and can also contribute to deaths from multi-organ failure.

More than 90 percent of trauma deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries, where access to medicines is often restricted by poorer infrastructure and fewer resources.

Their large trial involved 200,000 severely injured adults who had significant bleeding, or were at risk of significant bleeding, and were within a few hours of having been injured.

Research
The patients in the trial with significant bleeding received either one gram of TXA by injection, followed by another one gram in a drip over the following eight hours, or a matching placebo or "dummy" medicine.

The researchers then studied the numbers of deaths in hospital within four weeks of injury and found that TXA cut the risk of death due to excessive bleeding by about one sixth, and there was no increased risk of clotting complications.

Etienne Krug, the WHO's director for violence, injury prevention and disability, said the findings were important and could help to lessen the impact of accidents and injuries.

source: Reuters