Acute haemostatic changes in accidentally traumatised dogs

Alterations of the haemostatic system were studied in 30 dogs within 24 h following natural injury. No other exclusion criteria were considered. Most dogs had bone fractures, thoracic and/or abdominal trauma. Compared to the controls, the platelet count and activities of all individual coagulation factors, inhibitors of the blood coagulation system (antithrombin, protein C) and plasminogen were significantly decreased (P < 0.01). The only exceptions were alpha2-plasmin inhibitor activity, which did not differ from the control group (P > 0.05), and an increased fibrinogen concentration (P = 0.0113). Deficiencies in the coagulation system were reflected by frequent abnormal results of the screening tests. In most of the animals, the concentrations of soluble fibrin and/or fibrin(ogen) degradation products were above the reference values (P < 0.0001). The absence of a decrease in fibrinogen and alpha2-plasmin inhibitor reflects their role as acute phase reactants. The results of this study indicate the high frequency of decompensated consumption of haemostatic components in acutely traumatised dogs.