COAGULATION PROFILE IN DIFFERENT TRIMESTERS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN AL-BAHA: SAUDI ARABIA

Physiological alterations occur in the coagulation and fibrinolytic systems of pregnant women compared to that of healthy non-pregnant women which is associated with a shortened in the prothrombin time (PT) and the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) leading to a hypercoagulable state particularly during the third trimester which protect pregnant women from probable excessive bleeding at the delivery and post-partum periods. Our study aimed to identify alterations in the coagulation profile of pregnant women throughout their pregnancy compared to non- pregnant women. Method: analytical cross-sectional study at Antenatal Care (ANC) Clinic of the Baljurashi Maternity and Children's Hospital; Al-Baha; Saudi Arabia Coagulation profile of 75 healthy pregnant women and 50 healthy non-pregnant women were studied. Results: The mean age ± Standard deviation (SD) was found to be 25.12 ± 3.65 years for the pregnant women and 26 ± 4.3 years for the non-pregnant women. The mean value of platelet in non- pregnant women were (280 ± 10.14 × 10³/ml) and in pregnant women in the 1^st (272.55 ± 11.56 × 10³/ml), 2^nd (254. 35 ± 14.01 × 10³/ml), and 3^rd (237.50 ± 12.29 × 10³/ml) trimesters. the mean values of prothrombin time was significantly decreased compared to non-pregnant women and as the pregnancy progress through different trimester with reported values of 10.8±0.68, 10.3±0.74, 10.1±0.65 and 9.5±0.59 seconds respectively ( P=0.001). Similarly, values of INR showed significant decrease with values 0.87±0.05, 0.86±0.08, 0.83±0.06 and 0.80±0.07 respectively (P=0.001).

Conclusions: pregnancy shortens the coagulation profile with a resultant of a transient hypercoagulable state.

Recommendation: trimester-specific coagulation profile assessment are essential for the accurate judgment of haemostatic status during pregnancy.

Keywords: Pregnant women, puerperium, Coagulation profiles, Activated Partial Thromboplastin, Prothrombin Time, Thrombocytopenia, Al-Baha; Saudi Arabia