The "coagulation box" and a new hemoglobin-driven algorithm for bleeding control in patients with severe multiple traumas

Use of fibrinogen concentrate for trauma-related bleeding: A systematic-review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Trauma-induced coagulopathy contributes to significant morbidity and mortality in patients who experience trauma-related bleeding. This study aimed to synthesize the evidence supporting the efficacy and safety of preemptive and goal-directed fibrinogen concentrate (FC) in the management of trauma-related hemorrhage.

METHODS

PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform were systematically searched. All trial designs, except individual case reports, which evaluated the preemptive or goal-directed use of FC for trauma-related bleeding/coagulopathy, in patients older than 16 years, were included in the systematic review. For the included randomized controlled trials comparing FC with control, meta-analysis was performed and a risk-of bias-assessment was completed using the Cochrane Methodology and Preferred Reporting Items Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines.

RESULTS

A total of 2,743 studies were identified; 26 were included in the systematic review, and 5 randomized controlled trials (n = 238) were included in the meta-analysis. For the primary outcome of mortality, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups, with 22% and 23.4% in the FC and comparator arms, respectively (risk ratio, 1.00 [95% confidence interval, 0.39 to 2.56]; p = 0.99). In addition, there was no statistical difference between FC and control in packed red blood cell, fresh frozen plasma, or platelet transfusion requirements, and thromboembolic events. Overall, the quality of evidence was graded as low to moderate because of concerns with risk of bias, imprecision, and inconsistency.

CONCLUSION

Further high-quality, adequately powered studies are needed to assess the impact of FC in trauma, with a focus on administration as early as possible from the point of entry into the trauma system of care.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Systematic review and Meta-analysis, level II.

Optimal Dosage and Administration Practices for Vitamin K Antagonist Reversal With 4-Factor Prothrombin Complex Concentrate

Expert consensus and international guidelines recommend urgent co-administration of vitamin K and 4-factor prothrombin complex concentrates (4F-PCCs) to rapidly reverse VKA-related bleeding. This narrative review examined real-world evidence and strategies to optimize international normalized ratio (INR) reversal, hemostasis, and outcomes in patients receiving 4F-PCC in this setting. Key determinants for success include the appropriate use of alternative dosing and administration strategies, such as fixed dosing and increased infusion speed, adherence to institutional guidelines, and removing significant institutional barriers to reduce time to treatment. In the opinion of authors, minimizing the time to treatment with 4F-PCCs is of paramount importance when treating patients with VKA-related bleeding. Practices that safely and feasibly shorten the time to administration should be included in guidelines for institutions responsible for anticoagulant care, and adhered to in centers that perform invasive procedures on patients receiving VKA therapy. Further studies are required to optimize use of 4F-PCC, particularly in relation to the ideal dosing strategy and the role of INR.

Terrorist incidents: strategic treatment objectives, tactical diagnostic procedures and the estimated need of blood and clotting products

BACKGROUND

Terrorism-related incidents that are associated with mass casualties (mass-casualty terrorist incidents) are a medical and organisational challenge for every hospital because of the special injury patterns involved, the time of the incident, the development of the situation, the initial lack of information, the number of injured, and the number of uninjured survivors who self-refer to a hospital.

METHODS

The Terror and Disaster Surgical Care (TDSC®) - Course was developed in order to address mass-casualty terrorist incidents and to provide surgeons with the specialist medical and surgical knowledge and skills required for these special situations. The focus of the TDSC® course is on how to provide surgical care and how to deploy scarce resources in a particular tactical situation in such a way that the number of survivors is maximised.

RESULTS

The effective management of such a tactical situation must be based on priorities and first and foremost requires the standardised sorting and categorisation of the injured at the hospital. The aim of triage, or the sorting of the injured, is to immediately identify patients with life-threatening injuries in environments with strained resources. The medical management of mass-casualty terrorist incidents requires tactical abbreviated surgical care (TASC) teams that have the skills needed to perform a primary survey and to provide care for casualties who need immediate surgery (triage category 1-T1). Initial fluid therapy should be restrictive (permissive hypotension) unless contraindicated. Clotting products are replaced in a standardised manner on the basis of patient requirements, which are calculated using rapidly available surrogates (blood gas analysis). Blood products can be administered or kept available depending on risks and triage categories. The highest priority should be given to the identification and management of haemodynamically unstable patients who require immediate surgery for injuries associated with bleeding into body cavities (T1 + +).

CONCLUSION

The recommendations and approaches described here should be considered as proposals for hospitals to develop standards or modify well-established standards that enable them to prepare themselves successfully for situations (e.g. mass-casualty terrorist or shooter incidents) in which their resources are temporarily overwhelmed.

[ATLS® and TDSC®: how it fits together : A treatment concept for mass casualty and terrorist-related mass casualty situations, life-threatening and special scenarios]

Terrorist-related mass casualty incidents represent a medical and organizational challenge for all hospitals. The main reasons are the special patterns of injuries, the onset and development of the scenario, the lack of information at the beginning, the overall number of casualties and the number of uninjured but involved patients presenting at the hospital.Due to these circumstances and the high percentage of penetrating injuries with a permanent risk of uncontrollable bleeding and other life-threatening complications, a strategic and tactical initial surgical care is necessary.For these special terrorist-related mass casualty (MasCal) situations, the Terror and Disaster Surgical Care (TDSC®) course was developed and imparts special medical and surgical knowledge as well as a scenario-based training in surgical decision-making. The TDSC® course focusses on the scenario-related provision of surgical care and distribution of the limited resources to enable survival for as many patients as possible.To improve individualized trauma care course formats, such as the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS®) were established and are nowadays widespread in Germany. It could be shown that standardized approaches and algorithm-based treatment could improve the outcome of trauma victims. Faced with the present day permanent risk of a possible terrorist-related MasCal situation, the question arises how and to what extent elements and principles of both course formats (TDSC® and ATLS®) could be used to improve and organize the initial care in a terrorist-linked MasCal incident.For the first time it is shown that the key elements of both courses (primary survey of the ATLS® and the TDSC® principles: categorization, prioritization, disposition and realization) could be established and integratively used to structure the initial intrahospital medical and surgical care.

Evaluation of Potential Clinical Surrogate Markers of a Trauma Induced Alteration of Clotting Factor Activities

Objective. The aim of this study was to identify routinely available clinical surrogate markers for potential clotting factor alterations following multiple trauma. Methods. In 68 patients admitted directly from the scene of the accident, all soluble clotting factors were analyzed and clinical data was collected prospectively. Ten healthy subjects served as control group. Results. Patients showed reduced activities of clotting factors II, V, VII, and X and calcium levels (all P < 0.0001 to 0.01). Levels of hemoglobin and base deficit correlated moderately to highly with the activities of a number of clotting factors. Nonsurvivors and patients who needed preclinical intubation or hemostatic therapy showed significantly reduced factor activities at admission. In contrast, factor VIII activity was markedly elevated after injury in general (P < 0.0001), but reduced in nonsurvivors (P < 0.05). Conclusions. Multiple trauma causes an early reduction of the activities of nearly all soluble clotting factors in general. Initial hemoglobin and, with certain qualifications, base deficit levels demonstrated a potential value in detecting those underlying clotting factor deficiencies. Nevertheless, their role as triggers of a hemostatic therapy as well as the observed response of factor VIII to multiple trauma and also its potential prognostic value needs further evaluation.

Factor concentrates in trauma

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Recent advances in the understanding of transfusion practices during hemorrhagic shock in trauma have led to early administration of thawed plasma in increased ratios to packed red blood cells and have improved survival in the most severely injured patients. As an appreciation for the sequelae of massive transfusion continues to mature, it is becoming apparent that a more targeted approach to coagulation deficiencies may offer an advantage.

RECENT FINDINGS

Factor concentrate therapy offers the advantage of smaller volumes of resuscitative fluids directed at specific phases of coagulation identified by alternative laboratory assays (e.g., viscoelastic testing). Case reports, animal studies, and retrospective reviews offer encouraging data on the ability of factor concentrates to reverse coagulopathy and reduce blood product usage.

SUMMARY

The use of factor concentrates to target specific phases of coagulation may offer benefit over blood product ratio-driven transfusion. The outcome benefit of factor concentrates, however, has not yet been demonstrated in well powered prospective trials.

[Hemoglobin-oriented and coagulation factor-based algorithm : Effect on transfusion needs and standardized mortality rate in massively transfused trauma patients]

BACKGROUND

Bleeding and trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC) are major contributors to death related to trauma in the first 24 h and the major preventable contributors. Early surgical therapy and aggressive correction of TIC are key steps to prevent death in patients suffering from hemorrhage. Therefore, a standard operating procedure (SOP) using a hemoglobin (Hb)-oriented and coagulation factor-based algorithm for early correction of TIC was introduced in this level 1 trauma center. This SOP uses the correlation of the Hb values measured in the trauma bay and standard coagulation tests as the basis for various aggressive coagulation therapies.

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to investigate the effectiveness of the SOP in trauma patients requiring massive transfusions. The main objective was the effect on the transfusion requirements and the standardized mortality ratio (SMR), the ratio of observed deaths to expected/predicted deaths, in the cohort of massively transfused trauma patients after introduction of the SOP compared with a historical cohort.

METHOD

A retrospective, single center study was carried out at a supraregional trauma center between 2005 and 2014. After introduction of the Hb-oriented, coagulation factor-based SOP for correction of TIC in 2011 a before/after comparison of all trauma patients requiring massive transfusions during trauma bay resuscitation and intensive care unit (ICU) admission was carried out. Main outcome parameters were the transfusion requirement and the SMR. The historical cohort of massively transfused trauma patients before introduction of the SOP (group 1) was compared with the cohort after introduction of the SOP (group 2). Furthermore, the two cohorts were compared regarding injury severity, expected death calculated with the revised injury severity classification (RISC), hemostatic results on trauma bay and ICU admission, clotting therapy and outcome.

RESULTS

Of the 952 patients investigated 86 (9%) required massive transfusion (45 in group 1 and 41 in group 2). Both groups were comparable regarding injury severity but showed slight differences in hemostatic results on trauma bay admission, with a trend to worse results in group 2. Differences were recorded for platelet count on trauma bay admission with significantly lower values in group 2. The RISC predicted a significant difference in the mortality rate (46.5% group 1 and 65.3% group 2) but no significant differences in the observed mortality (44.4% group 1 and 47% group 2) were recorded. The SMR decreased from 0.95 in group 1 to 0.72 in group 2, meaning that in group 1 from 21 predicated trauma deaths 20 occurred and in group 2 from 27 predicated trauma deaths 19 occurred. This difference is not statistically significant (p = 0.16) due to the small sample size but is clinically relevant. A significant reduction in the requirement of red blood cell transfusions (22.8 ± 8.1 units vs 17.6 ± 7.6 units) was achieved (p = 0.003). Significant differences between the groups were observed regarding frequency and quantity of the coagulation-promoting drugs. Compared with group 1 the SOP used in group 2 achieved significantly better hemostatic results on ICU admission for fibrinogen and Quick's value and a clear trend to better results for international normalized ratio (INR) and PTT.

CONCLUSION

The SOP based on coagulation factor values and standardized clotting therapy showed a clear trend to reduction of the SMR in massively transfused trauma patients. On the other hand the SOP achieved a significant reduction in the transfusion requirements and a significant improvement in the hemostatic results in the most severely injured patients. This can be interpreted as an effective use of coagulation factors in the early hospital treatment of trauma patients with ongoing bleeding.