Dextran and hydroxyethyl starch do not interfere with fibrinogen measurement if Clauss method with mechanical clot detection is used
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* Corresponding author: Jose Mateo jmateo@santpau.cat
1 Thrombosis and Hemostasis Unit, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, C/St Antoni M Claret 167, 08025-Barcelona, Spain
2 Anesthesiology Department, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, C/St Antoni M Claret 167, 08025-Barcelona, Spain
Critical Care 2011, 15:441 doi:10.1186/cc10304
See related research by Rossaint et al., http://ccforum.com/content/14/2/R52
Published: 12 September 2011First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
In an updated European guideline for the management of bleeding following major trauma, published in a recent issue of Critical Care, Rossaint and colleagues [1] recommended that thrombelastometry instead of other laboratory methods be used to measure fibrinogen. The authors stated that the Clauss method [2] overestimates fibrinogen concentration when colloids are given. This claim is supported by studies of patients receiving colloids in which fibrinogen was measured by an automated Clauss assay performed on an ACL-300R coagulometer (Instrumentation Laboratory, Bedford, MA, USA), which detects clot formation photo-optically [3]. Automated coagulometers use different technologies to detect fibrin clot endpoints. Some coagulometers employ mechanical principles involving the movement of a metal hook or the clot impedance of a ball bearing in a magnetic field; others use photo-optical devices to measure changes in light transmission [2].