Risk of intrathecal administration error associated with intravenous (IV) tranexamic acid – Pfizer and other collaborators

Healthcare professionals are drawn to the attention about the risk of error in the administration of IV tranexamic acid. Tranexamic acid is for IV use only. However, there is a potential for confusion of tranexamic acid with other injectables which could result in inadvertent intrathecal administration of tranexamic acid. This includes intrathecally administered injectables (e.g., bupivacaine and other anaesthetics) that may be used during the same procedure (e.g., caesarean section) as tranexamic acid. The confusion is due to visual similarity in product ampoules, labelling and packaging.