Thromboelastography on-the-go: Evaluation of the TEG 6s device during ground and high-altitude Aeromedical Evacuation with extracorporeal life support

Teryn R. Roberts, John A. Jones, Jae Hyek Choi, Kyle N. Sieck, George T. Harea, Daniel S. Wendorff, Brendan M. Beely, Vitali Karaliou, Andrew P. Cap, Michael R. Davis, Leopoldo C. Cancio, Valerie G. Sams, Andriy I. Batchinsky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Coagulation monitoring capabilities during transport are limited. Thromboelastography (TEG) is a whole-blood clotting test measuring clot formation, stabilization, and fibrinolysis and is traditionally performed in a laboratory. We evaluated a new point-of-care TEG analyzer, TEG 6s (Haemonetics, Braintree, MA), in a large animal model of combat-relevant trauma managed with extracorporeal life support during ground and high-altitude aeromedical evacuation. The objective was to compare TEG 6s used during transport versus the predicate device, TEG 5000, used in the laboratory. We hypothesized that TEG 6s would be comparable with TEG 5000 during dynamically changing transport conditions. METHODS: Thromboelastography parameters (R, K, angle, MA, LY30) derived by TEG 6s and TEG 5000 were compared during transport of 8 swine. TEG 6s was transported with animals during ground transport and flight. TEG 5000 was stationary in an adjacent building. TEG 6s activated clotting time (ACT) was compared with a Hemochron Junior ACT analyzer (Accriva Diagnostics, San Diego, CA). Statistics were performed using SAS 9.4 with Deming regressions, Spearman correlations, and average differences compared. RESULTS: Correlation between devices was stronger at sea-level (R, r = 0.7413; K, r = 0.7115; angle, r = 0.7192; MA, r = 0.8386; LY30, r = 0.9099) than during high-altitude transport (R, r = 0.4787; K, r = 0.4007; angle, r = 0.3706; MA, r = 0.6573; LY30, r = 0.8481). Method agreement was comparable during stationary operation (R, r = 0.7978; K, r = 0.7974; angle, r = 0.7574; MA, r = 0.7841; LY30, r = 0.9140) versus ground transport (R, r = 0.7927; K, r = 0.6246; angle, r = 0.6967; MA, r = 0.9163; LY30, r = 0.8603). TEG 6s ACT trended higher than Hemochron ACT when subjects were heparinized (average difference, 1,442 ± 1,703 seconds) without a methodological difference by Deming regression. CONCLUSION: Mobile TEG 6s during ground and altitude transport is feasible and provides unprecedented information to guide coagulation management. Future studies should assess the precision and accuracy of TEG 6s during transport of critically ill.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)S119-S127
JournalJournal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
Volume87
Issue number1S Suppl 1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2019

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