DISSEMINATED INTRAVASCULAR COAGULATION CADE

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a syndrome of deposition of platelet-fibrin thrombi in the microcirculation, with consumption of platelets and clotting factors and possible clinical features of bleeding or thrombosis or both. It may be produced by activation of coagulation, platelet aggregation or endothelial damage. It is not a primary disease, but a common and important complication of many serious illnesses, especially sepsis, carcinoma and obstetrical accidents. Shock and acidosis are frequent precipitating factors, and vitamin K deficiency is a common complicating factor. DIC usually produces no clinical features, but it may give rise to bleeding, ischcemic organ damage or shock. Although its clinical contribution is often difficult to separate from that due to the underlying disease, DIC remains the commonest cause of a generalized bleeding tendency in acutely sick patients. Laboratory confirmation consists of the demonstration of thrombocytopenia, coagulation impairment, hypofibrinogenamia, raised levels of fibrin degradation products, and positive results of para-coagulation tests. The most important therapeutic measure is control of the underlying disease, but replacement therapy and heparin may be required, especially if bleeding is significant and the process is not acute and self-limited.