Fibrinolytic Activity in Man During Surgery^[*]

Summary

165 patients undergoing various operations were studied for any variation in the fibrinolytic activity of the blood, as measured by a modified fibrin plate method.

The fibrinolytic activity was found to increase somewhat already after induction of anaesthesia, and almost always slightly to moderately during the actual operation.

This activity is believed to be due to an increase of the plasminogen activator in the blood, since it can be inhibited by administration of ε-aminocaproic acid. It is presumably a normal reaction and, unless extreme or combined with some coagulation disorder, it probably has but little influence on blood loss at operation.

^* This investigation was supported by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council and from the Swedish Cancer Research Foundation.

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