[Rotational thromboelastometry in therapy of life threatening bleeding]

Bleeding and coagulopathy is a common problem in the fields of internal medicine. In case of life-threatening bleeding, rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) has critical role in diagnosis and therapy of coagulopathy. In contrast to commonly used tests such as prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time, ROTEM evaluates coagulation of the whole blood as a bedside method. The use of ROTEM for rapid diagnosis and targeted therapy of coagulopathy leads to reduction in bleeding and thus to reduction in administration of blood transfusion products. ROTEM is a viscoelastic method incorporated in current European and Czech-Slovak guidelines for managing life-threatening bleeding. In this article, we provide the reader with information on the method and also a simple scheme for the treatment of coagulopathy guided by ROTEM.Key words: bleeding - coagulopathy - thromboelastometry.