Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

Disseminated intravascular coagulation is a condition in which the affected person’s blood has difficulty in clotting, thus leading to excess of bleeding. Sometimes it can cause failure of organ or even death if not attended immediately. It becomes life threatening problem when suddenly blood clotting metabolism is not able to function properly. The person may have internal or external bleeding causing excessive loss of blood.

It can affect the person in two ways. It will result in excess of clotting (thrombosis) wherein blood platelets will join together to block the blood vessels in the body, disrupting normal flow of blood. Other method is excess of bleeding which can damage internal organs causing death.

Causes :

Disseminated intravascular coagulation DIC can be caused by many factors. But it is a rare condition affecting very less number of people. Severe trauma, accident or brain injury can trigger blood clotting. When the temperature of the body falls below average (hypothermia) it can cause blood clotting in excess. Sometimes it can occur due to viral or fungal infection. In rare cases it can develop due to complications that may occur during childbirth.

In severe types of cancer DIC is the first symptom to detect that something is wrong in the system. Severe poison from snakebite can cause this problem in some people. Excessive blood clotting occurs due to the release of certain chemicals into the blood during delivery or labor pain. Amniotic fluid can clot resulting in excessive blood clotting in many places of the body.

It can develop due to extensive tissue injury caused due to accident or trauma. Even burns (second or third degree burns) can cause this problem. This can occur as a side effect of blood transfusion when the body refuses to accept the donated blood. In rare cases, it can develop during prostate surgery.

Who are at risk?

If you have received blood from multiple persons recently or if you have had Sepsis recently you are under risk of getting DIC. Severe head injury, surgical complications due to intake of overdoses of anesthesia and labor pain can trigger this problem.

Advanced Leukemia will have DIC as the symptom. People who have serious liver disease are also under risk for DIC.

Symptoms :

Blood hemorrhage can occur throughout the body when there is lack of blood clotting factors or chemicals in the blood. The intensity of bleeding may range from small red dots formation on the skin to severe internal bleeding. Heavy bleeding can occur on the body openings like mouth, rectum or even nose. If there are any surgical wounds on the body, it can start bleeding profusely.

Some of the symptoms of bleeding are shortness of breath (if lungs are affected), low discharge of urine (if kidneys are affected), Stroke if brain is lacking proper blood supply and much more. In severe forms the affected person will have low Blood Pressure with severe shock and organ failure.

For milder form of DIC the body will compensate for blood loss. If there is minor blood clotting there will not be any symptoms except for slight bleeding from the mouth or nose.

Diagnoses :

Dissemination intravascular coagulation is difficult to diagnose. The doctor cannot understand the symptoms by single test and hence he may order for series of testing procedure including complete blood profile for detecting the amount of platelets, D dimer test to find out the extent of blood clotting and prothrombin time test for measuring how long the Blood Clots on the body.

Fibrin is the name of the substance released in the blood when clotting breaks up and fibrinogen test is conducted for measuring the amount o fibrinogen in the blood.

Pictures of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation :

Images, Pics, Pictures and Photos of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

Treatment :

Treatment depends on the health condition of the patient and how severe the blood clotting is. Some people with acute form of DIC should be admitted in the hospitalization for treating with intravenous fluids and blood transfusion. Depending on the extent of blood loss the patient will be given medicines for blood clotting.

For people with severe blood clotting, heparin is injected into the blood for thinning the blood thus reducing blood clotting.

The doctor has to identify the factor that causes blood clotting or excess of bleeding before starting the treatment. He should treat the underlying cause quickly for fast recovery of the patient.

Frozen plasma protein is injected for replacing the low level of coagulation factors in the blood. Blood platelets are also given for correcting the low levels of DIC. Heparin is administered for cancer patients where other treatment methods do not respond. For some people, antithrombin is given for slowing down the process of clotting.

Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation – Symptoms, Treatment, Pictures

Symptoms

When DIC causes the platelets in the blood as well as the other factors of clotting to become depleted, extreme bleeding or hemorrhage occurs thru out the body. The brutality of this bleeding can go from small red dots and skin bruises to very heavy blood from wounds from surgery or openings of the body, such as nose, mouth, vagina or rectum.

Common symptoms include:

Bleeding

Mucosal bleeding

Cough

Dyspnea

Confusion

Disorientation

Fever

Lung damage

Kidney damage

With DIC organ damage can occur because of extreme blood clotting, which can cause shortness of breath because of damage to lungs, Stroke because of damage to the brain, and urine output which is low due to damage with the kidney. In extremely severe cases, low Blood Pressure can occur with shock as well as very extensive organ failure, can transpire.

In cases of less severe incidents of DIC which is known as chronic DIC, the human body has the ability to recompense for this abnormal clotting. Chronic DIC can create few symptoms, only blood clotting problems which are mild with some minimal bleeding from the mouth or skin.

Causes

There are numerous causes of DIC. This disorder is normally caused by a discharge of chemicals into the blood system from one of the following conditions:

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Blood Poisoning – system-wide infection – especially with gram-negative bacteria

Labor as well as delivery complications such as: Eclampsia, Amniotic fluid clots and Retained placenta

Certain cancers

Extensive tissue injury caused by: Burns and Concussion

Reaction to blood transfusion

Shock

Less common causes include: Prostate surgery complications, Severe head trauma, Venomous snake bites

This condition is associated with many illnesses, particularly in those patients who are very ill like those individuals in an Intensive Care Unit. Stress may also activate clotting factors. DIC is diagnosed with blood tests which are analyzed to count the number of platelets as well as clotting factors. When a patient does have excessive bleeding and he/she is at any risk of DIC, physicians try to act quickly.

There are certain conditions which increase an individual’s chances of developing DIC. While making a diagnosis, the physician will look for any of the following risk factors:

Recent trauma or injury

Recent episode of Sepsis

Recent surgery or anesthesia

Leukemia or any other widespread cancer

Labor and delivery complications

Severe liver disease

Recent reaction to a blood transfusion

Diagnosis

The physician normally makes a diagnosis of DIC based on symptoms as signs, as well as the results of certain specific blood tests. Like the symptoms of DIC, blood levels will very according to how severe is the DIC. The blood will be examined for atypical levels of certain tests, including:

Platelet count – normally reduced in DIC

Fibrin degradation products – normally elevated level in DIC

Fibrinogen – normally reduced in DIC

Prothrombin time – PT – usually prolonged in DIC

Partial thromboplastin time – PTT – usually prolonged in DIC

D-dimer test – normal high level in DIC

Thrombin test time – usually prolonged in DIC

Treatment

Naturally the goal of treatment is to determine and treat any underlying cause of DIC as well as to treat the problems with clotting itself. Blood clotting factors can be replaced with plasma transfusions. Heparin, a medication used to prevent clotting is often used.

Treatment includes:

Drug-Heparin sodium

Surgical treatment limited to treating certain underlying conditions

Transfusion of blood cells

Activated Protein C used to control growth of Blood Clots

Cornerstone cure of DIC is the alleviation of primary disorder

The treatment or management for DIC is very hard. The use of anticoagulant drugs can be helpful but it can also be extremely hazardous as treatment can also trigger a bleed that an individual cannot convalesce from. Individuals may also receive transfusions of platelets, as well as several other drugs, depending on each individual case.