Metabolism: clinical and experimental
The most recent articles from: February 2007
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Clinical coagulopathy frequently occurs in the presence of hypothermia. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of hypothermia on clotting protein fibrinogen metabolism and on coagulation function in a swine model. Twelve pigs were randomly allocated into control and hypothermia groups. ⋯ Hypothermia caused no significant changes in clot strength (maximum amplitude) and clot lysis (LY(60)). We concluded that hypothermia caused a potential deficit in fibrinogen availability and a delay in thrombin generation, consequently inhibiting coagulation function. Our data support the current practices of rewarming and prescribing recombinant factor VIIa for hypothermic patients with coagulation defects.