Effects of Fresh Frozen Plasma on Post-Op Bleeding in Infants Undergoing Cardiac Surgery with Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Abstract

Severe congenital heart disease (CHD) is diagnosed in the United States 147.4 times per 100,000 live births, excluding still births and abortions^1. With the advancement of diagnostic methods, prenatal care, and screening modalities, the total CHD birth prevalence has increased substantially^2. In turn, this increases the number of cardiac surgery cases. With the advancement of technology and cardiac surgery, smaller and younger patients are undergoing more complex cardiac procedures that involve cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Neonates and infants undergoing CPB are susceptible to adverse effects of CPB on the coagulation cascade due to their smaller weight and hematologic immaturity^3,4. In addition to these physiological issues in neonates and infants, CPB decreases circulating coagulation factors and anti- thrombin III levels to 50% and platelet counts to 70%^5, which can contribute to the post-operative bleeding.During CPB, neonates' and infants' coagulation factors become extremely diluted causing multiple coagulation defects^6. Optimizing the CPB circuit volume and the use of anti-fibrinolytic, packed red blood cells (pRBCs), platelets, cryoprecipitate, and ultrafiltration are among the most widely used methods in preserving and aiding coagulation factors^3,7-9. Another method of improving hemodilution-related coagulation dysfunction bleeding is by transfusing Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP)^10. However, there are only a small number of articles focusing on the effect of FFP in post-operative bleeding in neonates and infants following complex cardiac surgery with CPB. I postulate that adding FFP during CPB will lower the possibility of patients to experience post-operational bleeding, thus, shortening their length of stay (LOS).