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Thromboelastometry as an Alternative Method for Coagulation Assessment in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Invasive
Miroslav Durila1, Jakub Jonas1, Marianna Durilova2
1Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Motol University Hospital, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Insights
In pediatric patients, normal rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) results despite prolonged standard coagulation tests (activated partial thromboplastin time [aPTT] and prothrombin time [PT]) were not associated with severe bleeding during invasive procedures.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric critical care medicine
- Hemostasis and thrombosis
- Point-of-care diagnostics
Background:
- Standard coagulation tests (aPTT, PT) assess coagulation but don't reflect whole blood dynamics.
- Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) is a point-of-care viscoelastic test evaluating whole blood coagulation.
- Discrepancies between ROTEM and standard tests may occur in critically ill children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate severe bleeding risk in pediatric patients with normal ROTEM but prolonged aPTT/PT.
- To evaluate ROTEM as a reliable alternative for coagulation assessment in pediatric invasive procedures.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of pediatric patient data (2015-2017).
- Included patients with prolonged aPTT or PT and normal ROTEM (INTEM and EXTEM).
- Assessed for severe bleeding during or after invasive procedures.
Main Results:
- 26 pediatric patients (2 months-17 years) had normal INTEM/EXTEM with prolonged aPTT/PT ratios.
- Median aPTT ratio was 1.47, INR 1.4, and PT ratio 1.30.
- No severe bleeding events were observed during or after invasive procedures.
Conclusions:
- ROTEM can be a reliable alternative coagulation test in pediatric patients undergoing invasive procedures.
- Normal ROTEM with prolonged PT/aPTT suggests no increased bleeding risk.
- ROTEM may reduce fresh frozen plasma administration and expedite patient preparation.
Introduction:
Standard coagulation tests (activated partial thromboplastin time [aPTT] and prothrombin time [PT]) are used for the assessment of coagulation profile in critically ill pediatric patients undergoing invasive interventions such as insertion of central venous catheter, tonsillectomy, laparotomy, etc. However, these tests do not reflect the profile of whole blood coagulation. Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) as a point of care (POC) viscoelastic test may serve as an alternative method. Due to its ability to assess coagulation profile of the whole blood, it might yield normal results despite prolonged aPTT/PT results. The aim of this study was to find out if there was any severe bleeding during or after invasive procedures if ROTEM test was normal despite prolonged values of aPTT/PT in pediatric patients.
Materials And Methods:
We retrospectively analyzed data for the years 2015 to 2017 for pediatric patients with prolonged values of aPTT or PT and normal ROTEM tests-internal thromboelastometry (INTEM) (assessing internal pathway of coagulation) and external thromboelastometry (EXTEM) (assessing external pathway of coagulation)-and we looked for severe bleeding during or after invasive procedures.
Results:
In 26 pediatric patients (children from 2 months to 17 years old), we found that INTEM and EXTEM tests showed normal coagulation despite prolonged values of aPTT ratio with a median of 1.47 (minimum 1.04 and maximum 2.05), international normalized ratio with a median of 1.4 (minimum 0.99 and maximum 2.10), and PT ratio with a median of 1.30 (minimum 0.89 and maximum 2.11). In these patients, no severe bleeding was observed during interventions or postoperatively.
Conclusion:
Our data support using thromboelastometry method as an alternative coagulation test for the assessment of coagulation profile in pediatric patients undergoing surgical or other invasive procedures, especially using it as a POC test. All invasive procedures in our study were performed without severe bleeding despite prolonged values of PT/aPTT with normal ROTEM results. It seems that ROTEM assessment of coagulation may lead to decreased administration of fresh frozen plasma and shorten time of patient preparation for intervention.
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