Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 14, 2015; 21(2): 533-540
Published online Jan 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i2.533
Thrombomodulin in the management of acute cholangitis-induced disseminated intravascular coagulation
Keigo Suetani, Chiaki Okuse, Kazunari Nakahara, Yosuke Michikawa, Yohei Noguchi, Midori Suzuki, Ryo Morita, Nozomi Sato, Masaki Kato, Fumio Itoh
Keigo Suetani, Chiaki Okuse, Kazunari Nakahara, Yosuke Michikawa, Yohei Noguchi, Midori Suzuki, Ryo Morita, Nozomi Sato, Masaki Kato, Fumio Itoh, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St. Marianna University, School of Medicine, Kawasaki 216-8511, Japan
Author contributions: Suetani K, Okuse C and Nakahara K designed the report; Suetani K, Nakahara K, Michikawa Y, Noguchi Y, Suzuki M, Morita R, Sato N and Kato M were attending physicians for the patients in the study; Okuse C and Itoh F organized the report; Suetani K wrote the paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Kazunari Nakahara, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St. Marianna University, School of Medicine, 2-16-1 Sugao, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki 216-8511, Japan. nakahara@marianna-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-44-9778111 Fax: +81-44-9765805
Received: April 26, 2014
Peer-review started: April 27, 2014
First decision: May 13, 2014
Revised: June 8, 2014
Accepted: July 11, 2014
Article in press: July 11, 2014
Published online: January 14, 2015
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the need for thrombomodulin (rTM) therapy for disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in patients with acute cholangitis (AC)-induced DIC.

METHODS: Sixty-six patients who were diagnosed with AC-induced DIC and who were treated at our hospital were enrolled in this study. The diagnoses of AC and DIC were made based on the 2013 Tokyo Guidelines and the DIC diagnostic criteria as defined by the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, respectively. Thirty consecutive patients who were treated with rTM between April 2010 and September 2013 (rTM group) were compared to 36 patients who were treated without rTM (before the introduction of rTM therapy at our hospital) between January 2005 and January 2010 (control group). The two groups were compared in terms of patient characteristics at the time of DIC diagnosis (including age, sex, primary disease, severity of cholangitis, DIC score, biliary drainage, and anti-DIC drugs), the DIC resolution rate, DIC score, the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) score, hematological values, and outcomes. Using logistic regression analysis based on multivariate analyses, we also examined factors that contributed to persistent DIC.

RESULTS: There were no differences between the rTM group and the control group in terms of the patients’ backgrounds other than administration. DIC resolution rates on day 9 were higher in the rTM group than in the control group (83.3% vs 52.8%, P < 0.01). The mean DIC scores on day 7 were lower in the rTM group than in the control group (2.1 ± 2.1 vs 3.5 ± 2.3, P = 0.02). The mean SIRS scores on day 3 were significantly lower in the rTM group than in the control group (1.1 ± 1.1 vs 1.8 ± 1.1, P = 0.03). Mortality on day 28 was 13.3% in the rTM group and 27.8% in the control group; these rates were not significantly different (P = 0.26). Multivariate analysis identified only the absence of biliary drainage as significantly associated with persistent DIC (P < 0.01, OR = 12, 95%CI: 2.3-60). Although the difference did not reach statistical significance, primary diseases (malignancies) (P = 0.055, OR = 3.9, 95%CI: 0.97-16) and the non-use of rTM had a tendency to be associated with persistent DIC (P = 0.08, OR = 4.3, 95%CI: 0.84-22).

CONCLUSION: The add-on effects of rTM are anticipated in the treatment of AC-induced DIC, although biliary drainage for AC remains crucial.

Keywords: Disseminated intravascular coagulation, Acute cholangitis, Thrombomodulin, Biliary drainage, Anticoagulant therapy

Core tip: To evaluate the need for thrombomodulin (rTM) in the management of acute cholangitis (AC)-induced disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), we retrospectively compared patients treated with rTM (rTM group) and without rTM (control group). DIC resolution rates were higher in the rTM group (P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis identified only the absence of biliary drainage as significantly associated with persistent DIC (P < 0.01), while there was a trend towards an association between persistent DIC and a lack of rTM (P = 0.08). Therefore, the add-on effects of rTM are anticipated in the treatment of AC-induced DIC, although biliary drainage remains crucial.