Previous studies reported that IV/Oral administration of tranexamic acid improves the outcome upper gastrointestinal bleeding. However, the drug is scarcely used nowadays as those studies are outdated in present clinical field where early endoscopic treatment and PPI administration are considered norm. Although a recent meta-analysis done by Cochrane review group concluded that it improves patient survival, other review articles including Gut suggested that a well-designed clinical study is needed for re-evaluation of the efficacy and safety of the drug in current clinical situation. We hypothesized that early administration of the drug will significantly decrease the proportion of patient requiring early endoscopic treatment.
This study is to see whether the early intravenous administration of tranexamic acid improves the outcome of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding.