Introduction: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) profoundly impacts inflammatory and coagulation pathways, and strict monitoring is essential to guide therapeutic anticoagulation. Thromboelastography (TEG) offers a global evaluation of whole blood hemostatic system components and may be a valuable measurement of hemostatic function in these patients. There is a paucity of data correlating TEG parameters with standard measures of coagulation in heparinized pediatric patients.
Methods: Children on ECMO during a 10-year period were retrospectively reviewed. Standard measures of coagulation were matched to TEGs drawn within 30 min of each other.
Results: Out of 296 unique patients with 331 ECMO runs, 74.3% (n = 246) had at least one set of matched laboratory samples for a total of 2502 matched samples. The aPTT correlated with R-time (p<0.001). Platelets and fibrinogen correlated with α-angle (p<0.001). Fibrinogen (p<0.001) and platelets (p<0.001) were each associated with maximum amplitude (MA). 158 (47.7%) patients had at least one bleeding complication, and 100 (30.2%) had at least one thrombotic complication. Interestingly, a decreasing MA was associated with increased thrombotic complications (p<0.001).
Discussion: TEG correlated well with traditional measures of hemostasis in pediatric ECMO patients. However, there was not a clear benefit of the TEG over these other measures LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.
Keywords: Coagulation; Extracorporeal life support (ECLS); Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO); Thromboelasography (TEG).
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