Thromboelastographic Evaluation in Patients with Severe Sepsis or Septic Shock: A Preliminary Analysis

Purpose Thromboelastography (TEG) was investigated for the diagnosis of coagulopathy compared with traditional coagulation tests, in association with disease severity in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock. Methods Retrospective data was collected from a single center between January 25th to March 24th, 2016. There were 18 patients with severe sepsis or septic shock admitted to intensive care units included in this study. Laboratory tests including TEG were performed at admission. Disease severity was measured using the Simplified Acute Physiology Score III, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, and the level of lactate. Results There were 18 patients (61% males; median age, 60.5 years) who were diagnosed with severe sepsis, or septic shock requiring a norepinephrine infusion (n = 10, 55.6%). Of these, 4 patients had traditional coagulation tests, and TEG profiles which confirmed hypercoagulability. Eight patients had follow-up tests 48 hours post-admission with a Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score of 6.5 (3–9.5) at admission, decreasing to 4 (2–11) after 48 hours (although not significantly lower), however, the lactate level decreased statistically significantly from 2.965 at admission, to 1.405 mmol/L after 48 hours (p < 0.05). The TEG profiles tended to normalize after 48 hours compared with admission, but there was no statistically significant difference. Conclusion Coagulopathy with severe sepsis or septic shock patients can be life-threatening, therefore it is important to diagnose coagulopathy early and precisely. TEG can be a feasible tool to confirm coagulopathy with traditional coagulation tests.