Comparison of Antithrombin III and Pentoxifylline Treatments in Gram Negative Sepsis Patients Developing Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of antithrombin III (AT III) and pentoxifylline treatments on the gram negative septic patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). METHOD: For six days after plasma AT III activity dropped lower than 80% in Gram-patients who developed DIC were treated with AT III (90-120 IU/kg/day in 6 hours) or pentoxifylline (1.5 mg/kg/h in 6 hours) Fibrinogen, FDP, D-dimer, complete blood count, AT III activity, and DIC scores were calculated and recorded. RESULTS: The coagulation tests, AT III activity and FDP started to improve from the second day of treatment with both treatments (p<0.05). D-Dimer started to decrease on the second day of treatment with pentoxifylline (p<0.001) and fourth day of AT III treatment (p<0.05). Fibrinogen levels decreased on the second day of pentoxifylline treatment (p<0.05) and on the last day of AT III treatment (p<0.001). DIC scores started to decrease on the last day of treatment with AT III treatment (p<0.001) and on the third day of treatment with pentoxifylline (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Both ATIII and pentoxifylline treatments had positive effects on fibrinogen, FDP, D-Dimer, AT III activity and DIC scores in patients with Gram-negative sepsis who developed DIC.