Zekeriya Okan Karaduman1, Mehmet Arıcan1, Yalçın Turhan1, Ozan Turhal2, Zafer Orhan1, Mehmet Gamsızkan3

1Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Düzce University, Faculty of Medicine, Düzce, Turkey
2Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Düzce State Hospital, Düzce, Turkey
3Department of Pathology, Düzce University, Faculty of Medicine, Düzce, Turkey

Keywords: Experimental rat model, fracture healing, tranexamic acid.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effect of tranexamic acid (TXA) on the union of closed femoral fractures using radiological and histological methods in an experimental rat model.

Materials and methods: This experimental study was conducted between June 2017 and February 2018. Closed femoral fractures were created in 36 male Wistar albino rats (age: three months [range, 2.5-3.5 months], weighing 200 grams [range, 180-220 grams]). Half of the animals randomly divided into two groups were administered intravenous single dose of TXA (30 mg/kg), whereas the animals in the control group did not receive any medication. The animals in the two groups were randomly divided into three groups with six animals each and cervical dislocation was performed at days 15, 30, and 45, and radiological and histopathological healing scores were compared.

Results: When the mean radiological scores of the TXA and control groups were compared, a statistically significant difference was found in favor of the TXA group at day 15 (p=0.019), but no significant difference was found in the mean scores on days 30 and 45 (p=0.138 and p=0.269, respectively). Histopathological examination also showed a statistically significant difference between the 15-day mean score values in favor of the TXA group ( p = 0. 017 ).

Conclusion: The use of systemic TXA accelerates early bone formation and fracture healing.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Financial Disclosure

This research was supported by grants from the Scientific Research Projects Unit of Duzce University, Duzce, Turkey (2018.4.2.666).

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge all the researchers who have determined the effect of fracture healing in this experimental model.