Tranexamic Acid to Prevent OpeRation in Chronic Subdural Hematoma

Summary

Rationale: Chronic subdural hematoma (cSDH) is a frequently occurring disease, occurring mainly in the elderly. Surgical evacuation is effective, but also associated with life-threatening risks. In these old, often frail, patients with multi-comorbidity, surgery also comes with significant risks for future cognitive functioning and therefore, loss of independency. In five small retrospective series, tranexamic acid (TXA), an antifibrinolytic drug, showed a beneficial effect on the spontaneous resolution of the hematoma and, with that, the necessity for surgery. This randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial aims to prove the efficacy of TXA.

Objectives: Primarily to evaluate the efficacy of TXA to prevent surgery for cSDH. Secondarily to evaluate the efficacy of TXA to reduce cSDH volume, neurological impairment (mNIHSS), the incidence of falling incidents, the mortality rate, the use of care and health-related costs (iMCQ and iPCQ), to improve cognitive functioning (MOCA), performance in activities of daily living (Barthel and Lawton-Brody), functional outcome (mRS), the level of quality of life.

Study design: Double-blind placebo-controlled multicentre randomized clinical trial.

Study population: All patients, age 50 and above, diagnosed with cSDH for whom a conservative treatment is selected as primary treatment strategy.

Intervention: The intervention group will receive oral TXA 500mg twice daily for 4 weeks, the control group will receive a placebo twice daily. The TXA or placebo treatment is additional to standard care.

Main study endpoint: The number of patients requiring surgery within 12 weeks after start treatment.

Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: Patients will use the study medication twice daily for four weeks. Follow-up is at 4, 8and 12 weeks with a standard CT-scan of the head, outpatient clinic visits and 4 patient-reported questionnaires. These outpatient clinic visits are standard care; the third CT-scan, the questionnaires and extra clinical tests are extra. Each patient may benefit from the study if the study medication proves effective in preventing surgery for cSDH, whereas the risk of potential side effects of the medication is slight (e.g. the risk of thromboembolic events is only 0.01-0.1%). Surgery remains a possibility for those patients in whom study medication is not effective.

Conditions

• Hematoma, Subdural, Chronic

Interventions

DRUG

Tranexamic Acid 500Mg Tablet

orally twice daily for 28 days

DRUG

Placebo oral capsule

Oral placebo capsule two times a day for a total of 28 days

Sponsors & Collaborators

• ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development

  collaborator OTHER

• Academisch Medisch Centrum - Universiteit van Amsterdam (AMC-UvA)

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

50 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-06-19

Primary Completion

2029-04-30

Completion

2029-10-30

Countries

• Netherlands

Study Locations