BACKGROUND: Various plasma substitutes are used for the correction of hypovolemia caused by blood loss. It is known that plasma substitutes themselves have some adverse effects on blood coagulation. We performed this study to show the actual effect of plasma substitutes on blood coagulation in clinical hypovolemic situation caused by blood loss.

METHODS: 60 patients scheduled for radical hysterectomy were grouped by the plasma substitutes infused; group C, S, V and P correspondingly infused with Hartman's solution, Salinhes^®, Voluven^® and Pentaspan^®. Thromboelastograms (TEG) at 15 minutes after induction of anesthesia (T₀), after 15% blood loss of the estimated blood volume (T₁and just after infusion of the plasma substitutes (T₂) were compared among the groups and changes with the time course within each group were investigated.

RESULTS: Compared to group C, MA, A60, coagulation index, CL60 (parameters of TEG) were decreased and LY60 increased in group S and P while group V presented no significant changes. Hypercoagulability and reduced fibrinolysis were observed for T₁; for T₂, group C showed decrease in k-time, LY60 and increase in α angle, CL60. Group S presented decrease in MA, A60 compared to T₀ and decrease in CL60 and increase in LY60.

CONCLUSIONS: Surgery and blood loss accelerated coagulation and reduced fibrinolysis. These were aggravated after crystalloid infusion. In contrast, coagulability was reduced and fibrinolysis augmented after infusion of HES except HES 130/0.4/6.