Anaesthesia
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Comparative Study
Improving decision making through presentation of viscoelastic tests as a 3D animated blood clot: the Visual Clot.
Point-of-care viscoelastic coagulation tests are used increasingly and enable physicians to run precise whole blood coagulation diagnostics. However, the somewhat complicated and abstract presentation of results may hinder these advantages. For this reason, we developed the Visual Clot as an alternative mode of presentation for thrombelastometric data. ⋯ Although correct interpretation of standard rotational thromboelastometry results depended on previous rotational thromboelastometry knowledge and experience, Visual Clot interpretation did not. The Visual Clot improved rotational thromboelastometry-based therapeutic decisions, as pathologies can be recognised more rapidly and accurately. These findings underline the significance of an alternative additional visualisation technique that simplifies the interpretation of abstract standard data.