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
Review
. 2014 Feb 20;2(1):15.
doi: 10.1186/2052-0492-2-15. eCollection 2014.

Diagnosis and treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) according to four DIC guidelines

Affiliations
Review

Diagnosis and treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) according to four DIC guidelines

Hideo Wada et al. J Intensive Care. .

Abstract

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is categorized into bleeding, organ failure, massive bleeding, and non-symptomatic types according to the sum of vectors for hypercoagulation and hyperfibrinolysis. The British Committee for Standards in Haematology, Japanese Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, and the Italian Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis published separate guidelines for DIC; however, there are several differences between these three sets of guidelines. Therefore, the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) recently harmonized these differences and published the guidance of diagnosis and treatment for DIC. There are three different diagnostic criteria according to the Japanese Ministry Health, Labour and Welfare, ISTH, and Japanese Association of Acute Medicine. The first and second criteria can be used to diagnose the bleeding or massive bleeding types of DIC, while the third criteria cover organ failure and the massive bleeding type of DIC. Treatment of underlying conditions is recommended in three types of DIC, with the exception of massive bleeding. Blood transfusions are recommended in patients with the bleeding and massive bleeding types of DIC. Meanwhile, treatment with heparin is recommended in those with the non-symptomatic type of DIC. The administration of synthetic protease inhibitors and antifibrinolytic therapy is recommended in patients with the bleeding and massive bleeding types of DIC. Furthermore, the administration of natural protease inhibitors is recommended in patients with the organ failure type of DIC, while antifibrinolytic treatment is not. The diagnosis and treatment of DIC should be carried out in accordance with the type of DIC.

Keywords: Bleeding type; Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC); Guidelines; Massive bleeding type; Non-symptomatic type; Organ failure type.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bleeding, organ failubre, massive bleeding, and non-symptomatic types of DIC.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Regulation of the coagulation system.

References

    1. Taylor FB, Toh CH, Hoots WK, Wada H, Levi M. Towards definition, clinical and laboratory criteria, and a scoring system for disseminated intravascular coagulation. Thromb Haemost. 2001;86:1327–1330. - PubMed
    1. Wada H. Disseminated intravascular coagulation. Clin Chim Acta. 2004;344:13–21. doi: 10.1016/j.cccn.2004.02.015. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Levi M, Toh CH, Thachil J, Watson HG. Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of disseminated intravascular coagulation. British Committee for Standards in Haematology. Br J Haematol. 2009;145:24–33. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2141.2009.07600.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wada H, Asakura H, Okamoto K, Iba T, Uchiyama T, Kawasugi K, Koga S, Mayumi T, Koike K, Gando S, Kushimoto S, Seki Y, Madoiwa S, Maruyama I, Yoshioka A, Japanese Society of Thrombosis Hemostasis/DIC subcommittee Expert consensus for the treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation in Japan. Thromb Res. 2010;125:6–11. doi: 10.1016/j.thromres.2009.08.017. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Di Nisio M, Baudo F, Cosmi B, D’Angelo A, De Gasperi A, Malato A, Schiavoni M, Squizzato A, Italian Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis Diagnosis and treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation: guidelines of the Italian society for haemostasis and thrombosis (SISET) Thromb Res. 2012;129:e177–e184. doi: 10.1016/j.thromres.2011.08.028. - DOI - PubMed