Comparison of arterial versus venous parameters of Rotational thromboelastometry and multiple platelet function analyzer: Results of a pilot study

AbstractBackground. In the operating room and at the ICU, Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM®) and multiple platelet function analyzer (Multiplate®) are frequently performed on arterial blood samples while known reference ranges refer to venous blood only. To evaluate whether there are clinical important differences between parameters measured in arterial and venous blood, we performed a prospective study in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. Methods. Arterial and venous blood samples were drawn simultaneously after line insertion (T0), intraoperatively (T1), at the end of surgery (T2) and the INTEM®, EXTEM® and FIBTEM® ROTEM assays, as well as the ASPI®, ADP® and TRAP® assays were performed in arterial and venous samples using the ROTEM® and the Multiplate® device, respectively. Results. After informed consent, 52 patients were enrolled and data of 50 patients remained for final analysis. Venous and arterial measurement results correlated significantly with a coefficient of 0.519–0.977. At the thr...