RESUMO
Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common and potentially life-threatening complication in patients with lower limb traumatic fractures. Orthopaedic patients who experience trauma in the lower limbs with prolonged immobilization may experience a hypercoagulable state, which could eventually lead to the development of VTE. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the changes in hypercoagulable markers, including haemostatic, inflammatory, and haematological biomarkers in orthopaedic trauma patients with prolonged immobilization. Materials/method This prospective cohort study was conducted at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from August 2020 to March 2022. Every patient with fractures in the lower limbs was screened for eligibility, and patients who required immobilization for more than five days without receiving anticoagulant prophylaxis were recruited for this study. The laboratory tests, including D-dimer, fibrinogen, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and platelet count, were serially measured on day one and day five of hospitalization. The biomarkers were analyzed using a paired t-test, with a p-value <0.05 as a significant result. Results A total of 54 patients with fractures in the lower limbs, ages ranging from 12 to 50 years old, were involved in this study. The paired t-test analysis demonstrated that several biomarkers showed a significant increase in mean difference between day one and day five of immobilization, which included fibrinogen, ESR, and platelet count. The mean differences for each biomarker with fibrinogen were 0.66 g/L (p<0.001, 95% CI of mean difference: -1.04, -0.27), ESR increased by 17.98mm/hr (p<0.001, 95% CI of mean difference: -24.69, -11.27), and platelet count increased by 128.59×109/L (p<0.001, 95% CI of mean difference: -166.55, -90.64) on day five of immobilization. D-dimer was elevated in all patients on both post-trauma days; however, no significant difference was observed in this biomarker between day one and day five of immobilization. Conclusion In conclusion, our study found that fibrinogen, ESR, and platelet count levels were significantly increased in orthopaedic trauma patients with prolonged immobilization. The increase in these biomarkers indicates the body's reaction to tissue injury after trauma, which may contribute to the hypercoagulable states. Further research with a larger sample size is warranted to assess the viability of these biomarkers as potential diagnostic indicators for the development of VTE related to hypercoagulability.
RESUMO
Background Prolonged immobilization is widely recognized as a risk factor for thromboembolism. In this prospective study, we investigated the changes in clot waveform analysis (CWA) parameters in prolonged immobilized patients following lower limb trauma. CWA is an advanced method for assessing global coagulation that involves continuously monitoring changes in light transmittance, absorbance, or light scattering during routine clotting tests. Additionally, we also aim to determine the CWA parameters between day one and after day three of immobilization. Methods A total of 30 patients with prolonged immobilization were enrolled in this study. The plasma of these patients was collected on the first day of their admission and subsequently obtained again after day three of immobilization. Prothrombin time (PT)-based CWA and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT)-based CWA were performed using the ACL TOP 300 CTS (Werfen: Bedford, USA) coagulation analyzer, which utilizes the optical method for clot detection. Plasma samples for 20 normal controls were recruited from a healthy blood donor. The CWA parameters generated during clot formation were analyzed. For the comparison of CWA parameters between patients with prolonged immobilization and healthy controls, the Mann-Whitney test was used. A paired t-test was used for the comparison of clot wave parameters between day one and after day three of immobilization. This study was approved by the Universiti Sains Malaysia Research Ethics Committee. Result The mean values of PT and aPTT in healthy controls were 11.66 seconds and 33.98 seconds, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the patients and the healthy controls in the median values of aPTT (P=0.935). However, patients with prolonged immobilization exhibited significantly higher median PT CWA parameter values than controls (P=0.007). These parameters included the delta change (P<0.001), peak time velocity (P=0.008), and height velocity (P<0.001). On the other hand, the delta change (P<0.001) and height velocity (P<0.001) of the aPTT CWA parameters were significantly higher in patients with prolonged immobilization than in controls. In patients with prolonged immobilization, there was no significant difference in PT CWA parameters between day one and after day three of immobilization, while for aPTT CWA, all parameters were higher on day three, except for the endpoint time. Conclusion Patients with prolonged immobilization exhibit increased PT and aPTT CWA parameters compared to normal controls. CWA parameters could aid in identifying patients at risk of developing thrombosis through changes in the clot waveform. However, further study is needed to fully utilize additional information from routine coagulation testing.