Thromboelastometry in trauma care: a place in the 2018 Belgian health care system?

Unlabelled: Introduction Evidence supporting the use of Thromboelastography (TEG®) and rotational thromboelastometric (ROTEM®) in the trauma setting remains limited. We present the results of a practical evaluation of the potential interest of ROTEM® in the diagnosis of acute coagulopathy and the need for emergent blood product transfusion in the general trauma population of a non-trauma Belgian emergency department. Methods Extracting a convenience cohort from the initial prospective TICCS study, we performed a retrospective analysis to test the following hypothesis: ROTEM® might be helpful to discriminate trauma patients with or without acute coagulopathy.

Massive bleeding following severe blunt trauma: the first minutes that can change everything.

The first hour following a major trauma with massive bleeding is certainly the most decisive period in global trauma care. Most of it takes place during the prehospital care. Those prehospital minutes are thus determinant as they can be used to correctly identified patient's clinical condition, initiate organization of the in-hospital needed resources and initiate specific therapies in the very early phase after trauma.