Multicenter investigation of hemostatic dysfunction in 15 dogs with acute pancreatitis.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To characterize hemostatic profiles in dogs with acute pancreatitis. DESIGN: Prospective and observational study. SETTING: Tertiary referral centers. ANIMALS: Fifteen client-owned dogs with acute pancreatitis enrolled between December 1, 2011 and June 1, 2012. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were collected on admission for measurement of platelet count, PCV, thromboelastography (TEG), antithrombin, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, D-dimer, von Willebrand factor, and fibrinogen values, which were compared to reference intervals derived from healthy dogs. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to test for differences in continuous variables between study subjects and reference intervals. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Dogs with acute pancreatitis were globally hypercoagulable using TEG when compared with reference intervals. Dogs with acute pancreatitis had significantly higher D-dimers (1,144&#xa0;&#x3bc;g/L vs 251&#xa0;&#x3bc;g/L [6264.5&#xa0;vs 1374.5&#xa0;nmol/L]; P&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.001), fibrinogen (837&#xa0;vs 232&#xa0;mg/dL [8.37&#xa0;vs 2.32&#xa0;g/L]; P&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.001), and von Willebrand factor (92.9%&#xa0;vs 65.1%; P&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.02) as well as significantly lower antithrombin (85.7% vs 120%; P&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.001) and prothrombin time values (3.8 vs 7.6 sec; P&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.001) than reference intervals. CONCLUSIONS: Laboratory evidence of hypercoagulability was present in dogs with acute pancreatitis. TEG may be useful in dogs with acute pancreatitis for monitoring response to therapy and guiding therapeutic interventions.