Pre-hospital Anti-fibrinolytics for Traumatic Coagulopathy and Haemorrhage (The PATCH Study)

Summary

The purpose of this research is to determine whether giving severely injured adults a drug called tranexamic acid (TXA) as soon as possible after injury will improve their chances of survival and their level of recovery at six months. After severe injury, a person may have uncontrolled bleeding that places them at high risk of bleeding to death. Coagulation (the formation of blood clots) is an important process in the body that helps to control blood loss. Up to a quarter of people that are severely injured have a condition called acute traumatic coagulopathy. This condition affects coagulation and results in the break down of blood clots (fibrinolysis) that can lead to increased blood loss and an increased risk of dying. TXA is an anti-fibrinolytic drug that might help to reduce the effects of acute traumatic coagulopathy by preventing blood clots from breaking down and helping to control bleeding. In Australia, TXA is approved for use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to reduce blood loss or the need for blood transfusion in patients undergoing surgery (i.e. cardiac surgery, knee or hip arthroplasty). Recent evidence from a large clinical trial (CRASH-2) showed early treatment with TXA reduced the risk of death in severely injured patients, however the majority of patients involved in the study were injured in countries where prehospital care is limited and rapid access to lifesaving treatments is limited compared to that available in countries like Australia and New Zealand. It is unclear whether TXA will reduce the risk of death to the same degree when it is given alongside other lifesaving treatments that are available to patients soon after injury in these countries. The hypothesis is that TXA given early to injured patients who are at risk of acute traumatic coagulopathy and who are treated in countries with systems providing advanced trauma care reduces mortality and improves recovery at 6-months after injury.

Timeline

Start

2014-07-28

Primary completion

2022-05-09

Completion

2022-09-07

Publications

• Background Gruen RL, Jacobs IG, Reade MC; PATCH-Trauma study. Trauma and tranexamic acid. Med J Aust. 2013 Sep 2;199(5):310-1. doi: 10.5694/mja13.10747. No abstract available.
• Background Reade MC, Pitt V, Gruen RL. Tranexamic acid and trauma: current status and knowledge gaps with recommended research priorities. Shock. 2013 Aug;40(2):160-1. doi: 10.1097/SHK.0b013e31829ab240. No abstract available.
• Background Mitra B, Mazur S, Cameron PA, Bernard S, Burns B, Smith A, Rashford S, Fitzgerald M, Smith K, Gruen RL; PATCH-Trauma Study Investigators. Tranexamic acid for trauma: filling the 'GAP' in evidence. Emerg Med Australas. 2014 Apr;26(2):194-7. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.12172.
• Background Gruen RL, Mitra B. Tranexamic acid for trauma. Lancet. 2011 Mar 26;377(9771):1052-4. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60396-6. No abstract available.
• Background Mitra B, Cameron PA, Mori A, Maini A, Fitzgerald M, Paul E, Street A. Early prediction of acute traumatic coagulopathy. Resuscitation. 2011 Sep;82(9):1208-13. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2011.04.007. Epub 2011 Apr 21.
• Mitra B, Reade MC, Bernard S, Dicker B, Maegele M, Gruen RL. High ratio of plasma to red cells in contemporary resuscitation of haemorrhagic shock after trauma: a secondary analysis of the PATCH-trauma trial. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2025 Oct 2;33(1):154. doi: 10.1186/s13049-025-01476-2.
• PATCH-Trauma Investigators and the ANZICS Clinical Trials Group; Gruen RL, Mitra B, Bernard SA, McArthur CJ, Burns B, Gantner DC, Maegele M, Cameron PA, Dicker B, Forbes AB, Hurford S, Martin CA, Mazur SM, Medcalf RL, Murray LJ, Myles PS, Ng SJ, Pitt V, Rashford S, Reade MC, Swain AH, Trapani T, Young PJ. Prehospital Tranexamic Acid for Severe Trauma. N Engl J Med. 2023 Jul 13;389(2):127-136. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2215457. Epub 2023 Jun 14.
• Mitra B, Bernard S, Gantner D, Burns B, Reade MC, Murray L, Trapani T, Pitt V, McArthur C, Forbes A, Maegele M, Gruen RL; PATCH-Trauma study investigators; PATCH-Trauma Study investigators. Protocol for a multicentre prehospital randomised controlled trial investigating tranexamic acid in severe trauma: the PATCH-Trauma trial. BMJ Open. 2021 Mar 15;11(3):e046522. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046522.

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