Comparative assessment of hemostasis in septic patients and healthy controls using standard coagulation tests and whole-blood thromboelastometry

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is associated with dysregulation of procoagulant, anticoagulant, and fibrinolytic pathways. AIMS: To compare the measurements of coagulation activation, clot formation, stabilization, and lysis between rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) and standard coagulation tests (SCTs) on patients with early sepsis (SP) and healthy controls (HC). METHODS: This observational study included 30 SP and 30 HC. At study inclusion, SCTs and ROTEM analyses were conducted. A modified ROTEM with exogenous tPA was used to investigate fibrinolysis resistance. RESULTS: SP had longer prothrombin time, higher fibrinogen levels and lower platelet count compared to HC. On ROTEM, clotting initiation was longer in SP than in HC but median clotting time maintained within reference ranges. SP had higher maximum velocity of clot formation, clot firmness, elasticity, and platelet component than HC. Clot lysis indices (CLI) were higher in EXTEM and APTEM (without and with added tPA) in SP compared to HC. The difference in CLI between APTEM and EXTEM was lower for both native and tPA-spiked samples in SP compared with HC. CONCLUSIONS: While SCTs suggest SP are hypocoagulable, VET revealed normal coagulation initiation in more than 80 % of SP. Compared to HC, SP had increased clot propagation, firmness and elasticity, and decreased platelet-mediated clot retraction and lysis. In sepsis, VET provide more comprehensive information about hemostatic changes than SCTs.