Circulation
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Meta Analysis
Is epsilon-aminocaproic acid as effective as aprotinin in reducing bleeding with cardiac surgery?: a meta-analysis.
Although aprotinin is known to be effective in reducing postoperative hemorrhage after cardiac surgery, epsilon-aminocaproic acid, an alternative antifibrinolytic, is considerably less expensive. Because the results of 3 small randomized clinical trials comparing these 2 agents directly were inconclusive, we performed a meta-analysis to compare the relative effectiveness and adverse-effect profile of these 2 agents against placebo. ⋯ Because the 2 antifibrinolytic agents appear to have similar efficacies, the considerably less-expensive epsilon-aminocaproic acid may be preferred over aprotinin for reducing hemorrhage with cardiac surgery.