DIC Syndrome Calculator

DIC syndrome calculator will let you have a close look at the disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. Using the calculator, you'll determine the risk of DIC clotting disorder. Read on to find out:

• What DIC means in medical terms;
• How to prevent DIC;
• How to treat DIC (e.g., when to use heparin and plasma replacement); and
• How to tell HELLP syndrome and DIC.

We try our best to make our Omni Calculators as precise and reliable as possible. However, this tool can never replace a professional doctor's assessment.

DIC syndrome means disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. It is also called consumption coagulopathy. DIC is a syndrome of paradox – patients have both too much and too little clotting simultaneously.

The first step is an activation of systemic coagulation. Clotting is out of control and quickly uses up the coagulation factors and platelets. That causes bleeding in other parts of the body.

The DIC clotting disorder is not a disease itself; rather, it's a syndrome with an underlying cause. The most common causes of DIC are:

• Sepsis, severe infections;
• Traumas;
• Organ injuries;
• Obstetric complications; and
• Cancers.

If you know the medical meaning of DIC, you can figure out the signs and symptoms of that condition. Symptoms are caused by organ ischemia and uncontrolled bleeding.

Symptoms of an acute DIC include:

• Severe bleeding (wounds, nose, birth canal);
• Ischemic organ failure (liver failure, kidney failure);
• Symptoms of stroke (either ischemic or hemorrhagic);
• Shock; and
• Laboratory tests (used in our DIC syndrome calculator) reveal low platelet count, elevated fibrin degradation products level, and signs of poor clotting like prolonged prothrombin time (PT) and high INR results.

DIC can rarely take a chronic form. It happens mostly with persistent health factors, such as malignant cancers. In the chronic form, DIC looks like a bleeding disorder, with a tendency for bleeding gums and nose, easy bruising, and petechiae (small red spots on your skin and mucosas).

To use our DIC syndrome calculator, you need to have the patient's lab results. We need:

• Platelets (PLT);
• Fibrin markers;
• Prothrombin time (PT); and
• Fibrinogen.

Now choose the appropriate option for each parameter from the calculator panel. You can see live how they affect the result. Under the result row, you've got the interpretation with the probability of DIC clotting disorder of your patient.

HELLP syndrome is an acronym for hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets. It is one of the pregnancy complications considered a variant of preeclampsia. The table shows a short comparison of HELLP syndrome and DIC.

If you find thrombosis and hemostasis problems interesting, take a look at the following:

• The CHA2DS2-VAsc calculator;
• PERC calculator (pulmonary embolism rule-out criteria); and
• HAS-BLED calculator.