Abstract
Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by an ineffective host response to infection. Some of the most prevalent disorders in sepsis are hemostatic disorders. Sepsis often develops a state of impaired anticoagulant activity and fibrinolysis suppression, called sepsis-induced coagulopathy. Damage to the fibrinolytic system is increasingly considered a key factor in sepsis-induced coagulopathy. Impaired fibrinolysis in sepsis can contribute to undesirable outcomes such as microvascular thrombosis, organ dysfunction, and increased mortality. Given that one of the postulates related to sepsis is that prompt diagnosis and quick care are necessary, it would be of great importance to diagnose various forms of coagulopathies in sepsis at the beginning of their occurrence, for an adequate therapeutic approach. In this sense, easily accessible, routine diagnostic tests are necessary. Conventional laboratory tests for coagulopathies so far fail to fully define sepsis-induced coagulopathy. Particularly challenging is the testing of hypofibrinolysis in routine practice. The objectives of our study were to review the available scientific literature to investigate the relationship between inflammation and coagulation in sepsis, fibrinolysis disorders in sepsis-induced coagulopathy, to determine the importance of early recognition of these disorders in sepsis, and to investigate the available laboratory markers of fibrinolysis and coagulopathies.
Key words: sepsis-induced coagulopathy; fibrinolysis; fibrinolysis damage; viscoelastic tests.