Summary
In the course of liver transplantation many patients develop coagulation and bleeding
disorders. On the other hand, some patients suffer thromboembolic events in the perioperative
period with sometimes fatal outcome. For this reason, in 1999 we changed our coagulation
management for liver transplantation and abolished the routine prophylaxis with antifibrinolytic
drugs. In this context we implemented the ROTEM® system (Pentapharm GmbH, Munich) in our perioperative point-of-care coagulation management.
From 2000 to 2005, we analysed more than 18.000 ROTEM® measurements in the context of 642 liver transplantations. Prophylactic administration
of antifibrinolytic drugs was only done in patients with fulminant liver failure or
if MCF in ExTEM ≤35 mm at the beginning of surgery. In the other patients hyperfibrinolysis
could be detected in 60% during the operation. However, therapy with an antifibrinolytic
drug was only necessary in 40% of the patients. Our experience with ROTEM® analysis was summarised in an algorithm for ROTEM® based perioperative coagulation management for liver transplantation.
Keywords
Liver transplantation - LTX - point-of-care coagulation management - thrombelastometry
- hyperfibrinolysis