“Improving clinicians’ knowledge of Thromboelastography: A quality improvement project”

Surgical bleeding is a significant complication of surgery. Achieving homeostasis is key to maintaining perfusion and oxygenation to vital organs. Blood product transfusion is part of the management of surgical bleeding; however, if the underlying cause is not addressed, bleeding can reoccur or become worse. Thromboelastography (TEG) is a non-invasive, point-of-care test that measures the ability of whole blood to form a clot. TEG-guided blood product transfusion has shown promising results in cardiac, obstetric, and trauma surgery as well as in patients with cirrhosis. TEG-guided transfusion strategy can provide a more accurate and precise method to reflect coagulopathy leading to significantly lower use of blood products when compared to standard practice. Although TEG is key to the management of surgical bleeding, there is a gap in its utilization in clinical practice which could be associated with a lack of clinicians’ knowledge and competency of TEG. This quality improvement project aimed to improve clinicians’ knowledge of TEG interpretation and promote its application of TEG in clinical practice