Prevention and treatment of trauma induced coagulopathy (TIC) : an intended protocol from the Italian trauma update research group

In recent years, a strong focus has been put on the need to assure early coagulation support in order to prevent and treat coagulopathy in patients with severe trauma, and to improve survival. Aggressive plasma administration with high plasma/ red blood cells ratio is increasingly used worldwide. However, plasma transfusion is associated with increased risks of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and infection, which may prolong hospital stay and the need for artificial ventilation. Moreover, in the majority of European hospitals plasma cannot be immediately available and therefore it has been reported a significant delay in coagulation support. This has lead to the proposal of using clotting factors as an alternative to plasma. However, strong evidence to define the best strategy is still missing, and the only published protocols are Institution-specific, thus depending on the local organization and the available resources. The Italian Trauma Centers Network (TUN) recently developed a treatment protocol aiming at shortening the interval before the onset of coagulation support and at reducing the use of plasma. We present this protocol-Early Coagulation Support (ECS) Protocol - and discuss its rationale. Its implications for the trauma-team workflow and hospital organization are also addressed. The ECS protocol must be considered as an integrated part of a comprehensive Damage Control Strategy. The impact of the ECS Protocol on blood products consumption, trauma mortality and morbidity as well as its financial aspects, will be strictly monitored by the TUN hospitals.