are “normal” coagulation parameters necessary?
Davis JW; Davis IC; Bennink LD; Hysell SE; Curtis BV; Kaups KL; Bilello JF Department of Surgery, University Medical Center, UCSF/Fresno Fresno, California, USA. INTRODUCTION: Patients with head injuries frequently have abnormal coagulation studies. Monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) in head injured patients is common practice, but no best practice guidelines exist for coagulation parameters for ICP monitor placement. PURPOSE: To test the hypothesis that hemorrhagic complication rates from ICP monitor placement are low and that the use of FFP to correct coagulation parameters to “normal” is not indicated. METHODS: Retrospective review of all patients admitted to a Level I trauma center over a 3 year period, who underwent fiberoptic intraparenchymal ICP monitoring was undertaken. Inclusion criteria were coagulation studies (prothrombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin time (PTT), international normalized ratio (INR), platelet count) before ICP monitor placement and head CT scans to
