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Updated: May 29, 2026

Leveraging Turbidity and Thromboelastography for Complementary Clot Characterization
Published on: June 4, 2020
Change in hemostatic intervention after implementation of thromboelastometry
Anne-Mette Hvas1, Tue Wincentz Boas, Malene Jensen
1Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Aarhus University Hospital, Skejby, Denmark. am.hvas@dadlnet.dk
Objective:
To monitor the use of blood products and hemostatic intervention after implementation of thromboelastometry.
Design:
Observational prospective study using a historic control.
Setting:
Single-center university hospital.
Participants:
Patients undergoing cardiac surgery during 2008 (n = 811) were compared with similar patients in 2009 (n = 865).
Interventions:
Thromboelastometry was implemented in December 2008. Changes in transfusion of blood products and changes in use of recombinant factor VIIa and fibrinogen were studied.
Measurements And Main Results:
Use of blood products was not decreased significantly after implementation of thromboelastometry. However, in patients receiving blood products, the units of red blood cells were decreased significantly (p = 0.04). Regarding hemostatic reagents, the use of recombinant factor VIIa was decreased significantly (p = 0.04), and the use of fibrinogen increased significantly (p < 0.001). Most blood products (>70%) were given to a minority of patients (∼10%) in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, thromboelastometry was performed in 146 patients (17%), and the use of blood products (p < 0.0001), recombinant factor VIIa (p < 0.001), and fibrinogen (p < 0.001) was significantly higher compared with patients in whom thromboelastometry was not performed.
Conclusions:
After implementation of thromboelastometry, the use of recombinant factor VIIa was decreased significantly, whereas the use of blood products was not decreased significantly in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
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