Viscoelastic Monitoring to Guide the Correction of Perioperative Coagulopathy and Massive Transfusion in Patients with Life-Threatening Hemorrhage

Abstract

The resuscitation of patients with traumatic hemorrhage remains a challenging clinical scenario. The appropriate and aggressive support of the patient's coagulation is of critical importance. Conventional coagulation assays present several shortcomings in this setting. The integration of viscoelastic monitoring in clinical practice has the potential to result in significant improvements. In order to be successful, the provider must understand basics of the methodology, read outs, and the limitations of the technique.

Keywords: Acute traumatic coagulopathy (ATC); Hemostasis; Hemostatic resuscitation; Massive transfusion; Thromboelastograhy; Thromboelastometry; Trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC); Viscoelastic testing.