Reinfusion of aspirated pericardial blood during CPB. Part II. Laparotomy sponges are hazardous parts of the CPB circuit?

Clotting occurred in all of the sponges. Clotting was accelerated by the presence of TF. Without TF, clotting occurred in an average of 28 min (range 17-39). With 10 and 20 μl TF, clotting occurred in 20 (range 11-27) and 13 (range 10-16) min, respectively. Thrombin at a level of approximately 16 NIHU/ml whole blood was present in several donors for 10-20 min after clotting was complete. If 120 ml of blood was to be wrung from a full-sized laparotomy sponge at this point in time, it could contain as much as 2000 units of thrombin.