During bronchoscopy (a procedure using a thin, flexible camera to look inside the airways), doctors sometimes take small tissue samples (biopsies) to diagnose lung conditions. This can cause bleeding in the airway. Doctors currently use a medicine called adrenaline to stop this bleeding, but it doesn't always work, and bleeding can come back afterward. Another medicine, tranexamic acid, may work better because it helps blood clot and stay clotted, rather than just narrowing the blood vessels.
This study compared tranexamic acid and adrenaline, both given directly onto the bleeding site through the bronchoscope, in patients who developed moderate bleeding after a biopsy. The goal was to find out which medicine stopped the bleeding better right away, and which one was less likely to let the bleeding start again within 30 minutes.