2017 Trauma University: Geriatric Trauma: Anticoagulants-Geriatric Trauma

Video Transcription

Video Summary

This video features a presentation by Dr. Brett Christmas, Vice Chief of Trauma at Carolina's Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Christmas discusses the topic of anticoagulation in geriatric trauma patients, highlighting the challenges that arise when managing these patients who are often on some form of anticoagulant. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the mechanism and action of different anticoagulants, as well as the potential reversal strategies available. Dr. Christmas explains that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for reversing these medications, as each anticoagulant requires different agents for reversal. He also introduces thromboelastography (TEG), a test that provides a comprehensive picture of the patient's coagulation cascade in real time. TEG can help guide treatment decisions by assessing clotting time, clot kinetics, clot strength, and clot lysis. Dr. Christmas provides examples and interpretations of TEG results for different scenarios, such as prolonged clotting time, low fibrinogen, platelet dysfunction, hypercoagulability, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Overall, this presentation offers valuable insights into the management of anticoagulation in geriatric trauma patients, with a focus on individualized treatment based on TEG results.

Keywords

anticoagulation

geriatric trauma patients

challenges

reversal strategies

thromboelastography

coagulation cascade

treatment decisions

individualized treatment