Article

Thromboelastography in mild, chronic liver disease: challenging conventional coagulation tests preceding liver biopsy

Published in: Southern African Journal of Anaesthesia and Analgesia
Volume 24 , issue 5 , 2018 , pages: 135–139

DOI: 10.1080/22201181.2018.1510234

Author(s): LR Veronese Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, South Africa , M Miller Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, South Africa , WC Spearman Division of Hepatology, Department of Medicine, South Africa

Keywords: international normalised ratio , liver biopsy , liver disease , thromboelastography , viscoelastic coagulation testing

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Abstract

Patients presenting for liver biopsy may have a deficiency of the synthetic function of the liver. They commonly undergo testing of their INR, which is used to decide if there may be a bleeding risk and if that needs to be mitigated by the administration of clotting factors. This study aimed to observe the coagulation profile of these patients via a thromboelastogram (TEG), and to search for a relationship between the traditionally used INR and the R-time of the TEG.

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