Systemic vs. in-irrigation tranexamic acid in percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Introduction: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is the gold-standard treatment for large renal stones. One potentially significant complication of PCNL is blood loss, which can result in transfusion requirement and poorer stone-free outcomes. Tranexamic acid (TXA) has emerged as a promising intervention, administered systemically (TXA-S) or as part of irrigation fluid (TXA-I) in endourology. This study aimed to comprehensively analyze existing evidence regarding the applications of TXA in PCNL through a Bayesian network meta-analysis, offering insights into its efficacy and comparative effectiveness. Methods: In February 2022, a PRISMA-compliant systematic review (PROSPERO registration number CRD42021270593) was performed to identify randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT) on TXA as either systemic therapy or in irrigation fluid. Studies in other languages other than English and Spanish were not considered. A Bayesian network was built using results from identified studies to create models that were later run through Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling through 200000 iterations. Results: Eight RCTs compared TXA-S vs. placebo, one TXA-I vs. placebo, and one TXA-I vs. TXA-S. TXA-I had lower risk of transfusion (relative risk [RR], 0.63 [0.47,0.84], SUCRA 0.950) than TXA-S (RR 0.79 [0.65,0.95], SUCRA 0.545). TXA-I had a lower risk of complications (RR 0.38 [0.21,0.67], SUCRA=0.957) compared to TXA-S (RR 0.55 [0.39, 0.78], SUCRA 0.539). TXA-I had a lower postoperative decrease in hemoglobin (MD -1.2 [1.3, 1.0], SUCRA 0.849) compared to TXA-S (MD-0.97 [-1.0, -0.93], SUCRA 0.646]). Conclusions: TXA, regardless of the route of administration, is an effective intervention in decreasing bleeding, postoperative complications, and risk of transfusion when compared with placebo. Further studies directly comparing TXA-S to TXA-I would be useful to determine the optimal route of delivery.