Authors: Cha YM et al.
Source: The Daily Dose — Friday, May 8, 2026
Coverage from the 2026 Annual Meeting presented by the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) and Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (SOCCA)
This conference report highlighted several important late-breaking perioperative medicine trials presented during the International Clinical Trials Program session at the 2026 IARS/SOCCA Annual Meeting. Moderator Jessica Spence introduced ongoing and recently completed studies that may significantly influence future perioperative practice.
One of the featured studies was the TRACTION trial, presented by Daniel McIsaac. TRACTION was a phase IV multicenter randomized controlled trial evaluating whether a hospital policy supporting routine use of tranexamic acid (TXA) could reduce blood transfusions in major noncardiac, nonorthopedic surgeries associated with elevated bleeding risk.
Although TXA has already demonstrated benefit in orthopedic and cardiac surgery, its use has remained inconsistent in many other high-risk surgical procedures. The investigators therefore focused on surgeries historically associated with greater than a 5% transfusion rate.
The study evaluated two coprimary endpoints:
• Effectiveness — measured by the proportion of patients requiring transfusion
• Safety — measured by thromboembolic complications occurring within 3 months after surgery
The findings presented at the conference were highly encouraging. TXA reduced transfusion requirements while not increasing thromboembolic complications. The therapy met criteria for noninferiority regarding safety outcomes. Secondary endpoints, including hospital length of stay and survival, were similar between groups.
Investigators estimated that implementation of TXA in these additional surgical populations could save approximately 15 units of packed red blood cells for every 100 patients treated.
This is potentially important for perioperative medicine because reducing transfusions may decrease blood product utilization, lower costs, and minimize transfusion-related complications without increasing thrombotic risk. The findings may support broader adoption of TXA protocols in major noncardiac surgery beyond its traditional orthopedic and cardiac applications.
Because these were conference-presented late-breaking data, the authors emphasized that full peer-reviewed publication is still pending and additional details may emerge once the complete manuscript becomes available.
Key Points
• TRACTION was a multicenter randomized controlled phase IV trial evaluating TXA in major noncardiac, nonorthopedic surgery
• TXA reduced transfusion rates without increasing thromboembolic complications
• Safety outcomes met noninferiority criteria
• Length of stay and survival were similar between groups
• Investigators estimated a savings of 15 units of packed red blood cells per 100 patients treated
• Results were presented as late-breaking conference data at the 2026 IARS/SOCCA Annual Meeting and are not yet fully published
Thank you to IARS and SOCCA for allowing us to summarize and share these important perioperative medicine conference findings.