Preoperative coagulation tests in former preterm infants undergoing spinal anaesthesia.
BACKGROUND
Clinical history is insufficient to detect disorders of haemostasis in infants aged less than 1 year and laboratory coagulation testing is recommended in infants before perimedullar anaesthesia.


METHODS
We designed a retrospective study to assess the preoperative coagulation tests [activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), prothrombin time, platelet count] performed in 141 former preterm infants who underwent spinal anaesthesia for elective inguinal hernia repair. All the infants had recovered from any significant medical event (necrotizing enterocolitis, intracranial haemorrhages, transfusions of blood products, sepsis, etc.) when they were scheduled for surgery.


RESULTS
Mean values for aPTT were frequently abnormal (60.4%) in infants with a postconceptional age of less than 45 weeks. No complication related to the puncture or abnormal perioperative bleeding was detected.


CONCLUSIONS
Other coagulation tests should be evaluated to assess the coagulation status in infants with a postconceptional age of less than 45 weeks.
De Saint Blanquat
L
L
Départment d'Anesthésie-Réanimation, Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.
Simon
L
L
Laplace
C
C
Egu
J F
JF
Hamza
J
J
D000775:Anesthesia, Spinal; D001780:Blood Coagulation Tests; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D010314:Partial Thromboplastin Time; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies