Surgical Bleeding

Lisa Arfons, MD and Alvin Schmaier, MD

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Copyright of the American Society of Hematology, 2011. ISSN: 1931-6860.

VI. PROGNOSIS/CLINICAL COURSE

The patient is transferred to the surgical intensive care unit. Over the next 24 hours her vital signs stabilize. She is no longer bleeding from the central venous catheter. The nurse tells you that her wound site continues to ooze, but now she requires dressing changes much less frequently.


Which of your initial recommendations to the surgical team caring for the patient resulted in her clinical improvement?

Observation
Transfuse packed red blood cells
Transfuse platelets
Tranfuse cryoprecipitate
Transfuse fresh frozen plasma
Start activated protein C
Start anticoagulation
Transfuse calcium salts
Reversal of inciting event


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