ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT06270407TRANOPUpdated Aug 14, 2026

The Effect of Local Application of Tranexamic Acid Versus Placebo on Postoperative Complications in Plastic Surgery

A Phase 4 interventional study of Tranexamic Acid 100 MG/ML and 0.9%sodium chloride in Surgical Complication, sponsored by St. Olavs Hospital. Recruiting at 11 sites in 3 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-14.

Sponsored by St. Olavs Hospital · Phase 4, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Sep 2024; still recruiting 2 years 1 month later.
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
3,000
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Study objective:

This is a study to investigate whether applying the drug tranexamic acid (TXA) onto a surgical wound surface may affect the incidence of surgical complications such as re-bleeding needing intervention, wound complications such as infection, wound rupture or seroma, or if it may increase the risk of blood clots.

Eligible patients:

Patients undergoing plastic surgical procedures with wounds that would normally receive application of TXA to reduce bleeding after surgery.

Study intervention:

Participants will receive a single local application of study drug onto their wound surfaces at the end of surgery. Study drug will be identical looking ampoules which contain either TXA or placebo (saline). Neither participants nor study personnel will know the contents of the ampoules.

Read the detailed description

Any serious postoperative complication needing intervention, specifically re-bleeding, wound infection, wound rupture, or the occurrence of blood clots for the first 30 days after surgery will be registered through the following interventions:

  • Screening of patient medical records
  • Distribution of an electronic self-report form (eForsk®) to participating patients at postoperative day 30
  • Follow-up phone call to verify data after day 30.

The study is terminated after the final phone call. All study data will be registered in an electronic, pseudonymous web-based registration form (eCRF/Viedoc®).

Number of participants: To assess the effect of TXA on the defined surgical complications compared to placebo, 1500 patients are needed in each group.

Data monitoring committee:

A data monitoring committee consisting of a group of independent scientists will be appointed for this study to monitor the safety and scientific integrity of this human research intervention.

02

Conditions studied

  • Surgical Complication

Keywords

  • tranexamic acid postoperative bleeding infection wound rupture seroma thromboembolism
03

In context

Lead sponsor

St. Olavs Hospital is the lead sponsor of 171 studies on the registry; 29 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients are eligible to be included in the study only if all of the following criteria apply:

    1. They are to undergo a surgical procedure within the field of plastic surgery where the procedure involves use of topical TXA at the participating center.
    2. They are over 18 years of age and capable of independently providing
    3. They have received adequate oral and written information about the study and signed the informed-consent form

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with known allergy to tranexamic acid.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
3,000 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Tranexamic acid arm

    Anonymous ampoule containing 5 ml of 100 mg/ml Tranexamic Acid. If surgeon wants to apply tranexamic acid onto the wound surface, the study ampoule will be diluted and applied in accordance with the surgeon's practice when using Tranexamic Acid.

    Drug: Tranexamic Acid 100 MG/ML

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo arm

    Anonymous ampoule containing 5 ml of 0.9% NaCl. If surgeon wants to apply tranexamic acid onto the wound surface, the study ampoule will be diluted and applied in accordance with the surgeon's practice when using Tranexamic Acid.

    Drug: 0.9%sodium chloride

Interventions

  • DrugTranexamic Acid 100 MG/ML

    Drug page: Tranexamic Acid

    If surgeon wants to apply tranexamic acid onto the wound surface, the study ampoule will be diluted and applied in accordance with the surgeon's practice when using tranexamic acid

    Also known as: Saline (placebo)

  • Drug0.9%sodium chloride

    If surgeon wants to apply tranexamic acid onto the wound surface, the study ampoule will be diluted and applied in accordance with the surgeon's practice when using Tranexamic Acid.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Postoperative re-bleeding

    * The primary objective is to demonstrate that topical application of TXA is superior to placebo (saline) in preventing postoperative bleeding needing intervention within the first 10 days after surgery. Thus, the null hypothesis to be tested in relation to the primary estimand is as follows: * Null hypothesis: Re-bleeding needing intervention, defined as the dicotome variable occurrence or absence of one of more of the below defined events within the first 10 postoperative days, occurs with the same incidence in wounds treated with topical TXA versus topical placebo (saline). One or several of the following will qualify as case: * Re-operation * surgical exploration or evacuation * aspiration of hematoma * blood transfusion * external extra compression due to hematoma * Alternative hypothesis: Re-bleeding as defined above occurs less often with TXA than placebo (saline)

    Time frame: 10 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. Postoperative wound infection

    * Null hypothesis: Wound infection needing intervention, defined as the dicotome variable occurrence or absence of one of more of the below defined events with within the first 30 postoperative days, occurs with the same incidence in wounds treated with topical TXA versus topical placebo (saline). One or several of the following will qualify as a case: * Extra outpatient follow-up * Re-operation or surgical revision * Antibiotic treatment. * Alternative hypothesis: Wound infection as defined above occurs more often with TXA than placebo (saline)

    Time frame: 30 days

  2. Postoperative wound rupture

    * Null hypothesis: Wound rupture needing intervention, defined as the dicotome variable occurrence or absence of one of more of the below defined events with within the first 30 postoperative days, occurs with the same incidence in wounds treated with topical TXA versus topical placebo (saline). One or several of the following will qualify as a case: * Extra outpatient follow-up * Re-operation or surgical revision * Alternative hypothesis: Wound rupture as defined above occurs more often with TXA than placebo (saline)

    Time frame: 30 days

  3. Postoperative seroma

    * Null hypothesis: Seroma needing intervention, defined as the dicotome variable occurrence or absence of one of more of the below defined events with within the first 30 postoperative days, occurs with the same incidence in wounds treated with topical TXA versus topical placebo (saline). One or several of the following will qualify as a case: * Active aspiration of seroma * Passive spontaneous drainage of a significant volume of seroma * Alternative hypothesis: Seroma as defined above occurs more often with TXA than placebo (saline)

    Time frame: 30 days

  4. Postoperative thromboembolic events

    * Null hypothesis: Postoperative thromboembolic events, defined as the dicotome variable occurrence or absence of one of more of the below defined events with within the first 30 postoperative days, occurs with the same incidence in wounds treated with topical TXA versus topical placebo (saline). One or several of the following will qualify as a case: * Deep venous thrombosis * Pulmonary embolus * Cerebral or coronary infarction * Alternative hypothesis: Thromboembolic events as defined above occurs more often with TXA than placebo (saline)

    Time frame: 30 days

  5. Other possible adverse effects

    Other possible adverse effects causing contact with the health service until 30 days postoperatively

    Time frame: 30 days

07

Study locations

9 of 11 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Study documents

PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — There is no plan at the moment to share the IPD. Datasets will be kept available in secure digital storage for at least 25 years. Access to analyzable datasets through a secure system may be granted following an independent assessment of the scientific merit of a defined research question from a third party.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started Sep 2024 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2028, 51 months after the start.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Feb 13, 2024
First posted
Feb 21, 2024
StartActual
Sep 18, 2024
Primary completionEst.
Dec 31, 2028
CompletionEst.
Dec 31, 2029
Last update
Aug 14, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 14, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06270407
Lead sponsor
St. Olavs Hospital
Collaborators
Smerud Medical Research International AS, Oslo University Hospital, Haraldsplass Deaconess Hospital, Helse Stavanger HF, University Hospital of North Norway, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Vejle Hospital, Bærum sykehus, Sykehuset SNR, Hamar sykehus, Tynset Sykehus
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 21, 2024
Start date
Sep 18, 2024
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 14, 2026

Study contacts

Kjersti Ausen, MD PhD
Contact
kjerstiausen@gmail.com
+4792249693
Olav Spigset, MD PhD
Contact
olav.spigset@legemidler.no
+47 936 64 337
Kjersti Ausen, MD PhD
principal investigator · St Olav's University Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Interested in this study?

Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.

Contact study team

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Studies of the drug tested here: Tranexamic Acid

Start the discussion