Female patients half as likely to be given life-saving drug for traumatic injuries

A recent study published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests that female trauma patients are less likely than their male counterparts to receive the life-saving drug tranexamic acid, despite a lack of difference in the drug’s effectiveness in male and female patients.The study’s co-author Dr. Ian Roberts, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, says the results were very concerning as tranexamic acid was “the only proven lifesaving treatment for traumatic bleeding.”“Women were treated less frequently than men regardless of their risk of death from bleeding or the severity of their injuries. This looks like sex discrimination, and there is an urgent need to reduce this disparity in tranexamic acid treatment, so all patients who need the drug have the chance to receive it.”— Dr. Ian RobertsThe study involved researchers from both the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust in the United Kingdom.Studies suggest that there are differences in health outcomes in men and women. Female trauma patients also tend to experience longer delays in receiving trauma care and were more likely to be discharged to nursing facilities than males.Given these disparities in emergency care, the present study examined sex differences in the use and effectiveness of tranexamic acid in patients with traumatic injuries.Traumatic injuries are severe physical injuries that require immediate medical attention.