Clinical evaluation of aminocaproic acid for managing traumatic hyphema in children

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence of secondary hemorrhage after traumatic hyphema in children and to evaluate the efficacy of epsilon aminocaproic acid in reducing this incidence. METHODS: In a prospective, randomized, double-blind study performed between November 1987 and February 1994, 94 children admitted for traumatic hyphema were assigned to receive either aminocaproic acid (n = 48) (100 mg/kg every 4 hours; maximum, 30 g daily) or placebo (n = 46) for 5 days. Patients who had ingested aspirin in the week preceding admission were excluded from the study. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 9.4 years. Black patients comprised 4% of the study population. Secondary hemorrhage occurred in only three patients (3.2%), two from the placebo group and one from the aminocaproic acid group, none of whom had any complications. The duration of hospital stay and the clot resorption times were increased significantly in the aminocaproic acid group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The authors report a very low incidence of secondary hemorrhage compared with most previous studies. This difference is likely related to the small proportion of black patients in our study and to the exclusion of patients having ingested aspirin, two factors that seem to be associated with higher rates of rebleeding. The efficacy of aminocaproic acid could not be determined due to the low incidence of hemorrhage. The results of this study, however, suggest that the incidence of secondary hemorrhage in white patients without prior ingestion of aspirin is insufficient to justify routine use of aminocaproic acid in managing traumatic hyphema. Rather, an individualized decision based on the risk factors of each patient would seem more appropriate to avoid a slower clot resorption time and possible side effects of this medication.