Eleven patients were studied sequentially from the beginning of recumbency due to
trauma up to the complete mobilization. The first blood sampling was performed 12
hr to 4 days after injury, the second after 12 to 33 days of recumbency and the third
after one or more months of mobilization. The blood was drawn each time before and
after venous occlusion of the arm and the leg for 20 min. Fibrinolytic potential was
calculated as the difference between post- and preocclusion values of plasminogen
activator activity, measured with the euglobulin clot lysis time (ECLT) and on fibrin
plates. The results showed that fibrinolytic potential of legs after the period of
recumbency was approaching that of the arms, being ten times higher as measured with
ECLT and five times higher as measured on fibrin plates in comparison with the period
after mobilization. It was concluded that hydrostatic pressure was the main, if not
the only factor responsible for the difference in the content of plasminogen activator
in veins of arms and legs and their fibrinolytic potential.
Keywords
Plasminogen activator - Mechanism of release - Hydrostatic pressure - Fibrinolytic
potential
