TY - BOOK AU - Marco Ranucci AU - Paolo Simioni TI - Point-of-Care Tests for Severe Hemorrhage : A Manual for Diagnosis and Treatment SN - 9783319247939 PY - 2016/// CY - London PB - Springer International Publishing Switzerland KW - Internal Medicine N1 - Includes References N2 - At the end of 2013, a group of Italian clinicians sharing a common interest in hemostasis and coagulation in critically ill patients began meeting periodically (first in Padua, then in different locations). During these meetings, the group agreed that there was a growing interest in point-of-care (POC) coagulation tests, as well as a great need for acquiring knowledge and expertise from various clinicians involved in patient care in different fields, such as cardiac surgery, intensive care unit, postpartum hemorrhage, liver surgery, trauma, and other disciplines. At the beginning of 2014, this group was officially formed and named “INTACT” (the Italian Network to Address Coagulopathy Treatment). To fulfill its educational role, the group decided it was time to join efforts to create a single textbook addressing the use of POC coagulation tests in different clinical scenarios. It was in fact clearly evident that the information in this field was quite sparse and that all interested clinicians were forced to navigate through published articles, textbook chapters, meeting sessions, and the Internet to find the information they needed. Conversely, the INTACT group aimed to compile all relevant information about POC coagulation tests in a single textbook, written both from a technical standpoint and a clinical point of view in regard to different clinical scenarios. The present textbook Point-of-Care Tests for Severe Hemorrhage: A Manual for Diagnosis and Treatment is the result of the INTACT group’s dedicated efforts toward this end. Each of the various chapters’ contributors are clinicians who are involved daily in the clinical management of severe hemorrhage in different areas, and while the content of this manual is based primarily on existing evidence, it also includes valuable personal points of view based on the authors’ daily clinical practice. For each clinical scenario, the authors provide introductory notes on the specific aspects of the coagulopathy involved in severe hemorrhage determination, followed by the possible POC coagulation test applications as a guide for both diagnosis and treatment. The manual contains basic information on the general pathophysiology of hemostasis and coagulation, as well as the historical and technical aspects of practically all existing POC coagulation tests, with specific reference to viscoelastic tests and platelet function tests. Five clinical scenarios are addressed in individual chapters: intensive care unit, cardiovascular surgery, postpartum hemorrhage, trauma, and liver surgery. Additionally, the treatment strategies (blood derivatives and; prohemostatic drugs) are discussed and the effects of antithrombotic drugs assessed. Lastly, the manual offers valuable insights into clinical cases drawn from the authors’ actual experiences. We thank all those who contributed to this manual and hope that the INTACT group’s efforts have fulfilled its aim of successfully contributing to a better understanding of this evolving topic ER -