Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2003 Jun;54(6):1127-30.
doi: 10.1097/01.TA.0000069184.82147.06.

Acute traumatic coagulopathy

Karim Brohi  1 , Jasmin Singh, Mischa Heron, Timothy Coats
Affiliations

Acute traumatic coagulopathy

Karim Brohi et al. J Trauma. 2003 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Traumatic coagulopathy is thought to be caused primarily by fluid administration and hypothermia.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed to determine whether coagulopathy resulting from the injury itself is a clinically important entity in severely injured patients.

Results: One thousand eight hundred sixty-seven consecutive trauma patients were reviewed, of whom 1,088 had full data sets. Median Injury Severity Score was 20, and 57.7% had an Injury Severity Score > 15; 24.4% of patients had a significant coagulopathy. Patients with an acute coagulopathy had significantly higher mortality (46.0% vs. 10.9%; chi2, p < 0.001). The incidence of coagulopathy increased with severity of injury, but was not related to the volume of intravenous fluid administered (r2 = 0.25, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: There is a common and clinically important acute traumatic coagulopathy that is not related to fluid administration. This is a marker of injury severity and is related to mortality. A coagulation screen is an important early test in severely injured patients.

PubMed Disclaimer