Early detection of coagulation abnormalities in patients at nutritional risk: the novel role of thromboelastography

It is believed that malnutrition is common among hospitalized patients and associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. It is unclear if it is more likely to cause coagulation disorders in patients with malnutrition. We, therefore, investigate the feasibility of using thromboelastography (TEG) in early detection of coagulation abnormalities in patients at nutritional risk. Fifty successive adult patients with gastrointestinal disease were prospectively divided into one of two groups according to nutritional risk score (less than 3 and 3 or greater). Blood samples were collected at admission for analysis of standard biochemical parameters, routine coagulation tests, and TEG parameters. A total of 62 per cent of patients (n = 31) were at nutritional risk. Serum concentrations of prealbumin, transferrin, total protein, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, and cholesterol were much lower in the nutritional risk group than in the no-risk group (P ≤ 0.05). There was no significant difference in routine coagulation tests, whereas most of the TEG parameters showed significant differences between the two groups. The overall coagulation function was worse in patients at nutritional risk than in patients with good nutritional status (P ≤ 0.01). TEG appears to be more sensitive for the detection of coagulation abnormalities compared with routine coagulation tests in patients at nutritional risk. The phenomenon described in this article should be useful in further studies of patients with malnutrition.