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Thrombin-Antithrombin System

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Trauma Induced Coagulopathy

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Abstract

To sustain blood circulation and continue on with life after a serious traumatic injury, it is equally necessary to prevent hemorrhage and exsanguination, and to check the development of subsequent systemic thrombosis by escaped clotting enzymes. Complex endogenous anticoagulant mechanisms have evolved to allow rapid, focal blood coagulation and hemostasis, and to prevent distal thrombosis which can lead to pathological—and sometimes fatal—circulatory disruption. Antithrombin (antithrombin III, AT) is an essential component of the body’s endogenous anticoagulant network, and works in concert with other endogenous anticoagulant and procoagulant components of the hemostatic system to keep blood flowing in the face of diverse challenges. The goals of this chapter are to provide a foundation for understanding the normal physiological functioning of AT, and to examine how AT becomes dysregulated in patients with severe injury, and contributes to trauma induced coagulopathy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioengineering Department, University of Utah, 20 S. 2030 E., BPRB 108D, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112-9458, USA

    Susan C. Bock Ph.D.

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  1. Susan C. Bock Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Susan C. Bock Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Surgery & Trauma Research Center, Univ of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA

    Eduardo Gonzalez

  2. Dept of Surgery & Trauma Research Center, Univ of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA

    Hunter B. Moore

  3. Dept of Surgery & Trauma Research Center, Univ of Colorado Sch of Med&Denver Healt, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Ernest E. Moore

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Bock, S.C. (2016). Thrombin-Antithrombin System. In: Gonzalez, E., Moore, H., Moore, E. (eds) Trauma Induced Coagulopathy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28308-1_2

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