Awareness and use of Tranexamic Acid in the management of Postpartum Haemorrhage among health care providers in Enugu, Nigeria

ABSTRACT Objectives This study was carried out to determine the knowledge, practice and barriers regarding the use of Tranexamic acid for the prevention and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage among health care providers in Enugu, Nigeria. Methods A cross sectional study was carried out among health professionals (Doctors, Pharmacists and Nurses) in two Nigerian tertiary teaching hospitals. One is Federal and the other is State. A total of 220 questionnaires were distributed, 207 were collected back (response rate: 94%) and analyzed using SPSS for inferential statistics with level of significance at p < 0.05. Results Only 23.7% of the respondents had good Knowledge (p<0.001). Good awareness of the recent WHO recommendation on the use of Tranexamic acid for Postpartum Haemorrhage was low (19.8%, <0.001). Majority of the respondents have neither prescribed nor dispensed it (30%; <0.001). Very few respondents use it for all cases of Postpartum Haemorrhage (16.4%; p<0.001). Barriers against its use include non-awareness of the latest WHO recommendation, preference for other utero-tonics and cost of the drug. Conclusions There was poor knowledge of Tranexamic acid, poor awareness of its recommendation and low use for Postpartum Haemorrhage among different cadres of health care providers. Synopsis There was poor knowledge of Tranexamic acid, poor awareness of its recommendation and low use for Postpartum Haemorrhage among different cadres of health care providers.