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The 20-minute whole blood clotting test (20WBCT) for snakebite coagulopathy—A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy

Lamb, Thomas, Abouyannis, Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4856-4334, de Oliveira, Sâmella Silva, Shenoy K., Rachana, Geevar, Tulasi, Zachariah, Anand, Sharma, Sanjib Kumar, Bhatt, Navin, Mukaka, Mavuto, Harriss, Eli, Lalloo, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7680-2200, Ashley, Elizabeth A., Monteiro, Wuelton Marcelo, Smithuis, Frank and Eddleston, Michael (2021) 'The 20-minute whole blood clotting test (20WBCT) for snakebite coagulopathy—A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy'. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 15, Issue 8, e0009657.

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Abstract

Background
The 20-minute whole blood clotting test (20WBCT) has been used to detect coagulopathy following snakebite for almost 50 years. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the 20WBCT was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the 20WBCT to detect coagulopathy, indicative of systemic envenoming.

Methods and findings
Databases were searched from inception up to 09/12/2020 to identify studies that compared the 20WBCT and INR/fibrinogen on five or more subjects. Data was extracted from full-text articles by two reviewers using a predetermined form. Authors of 29 studies that lacked sufficient details in the manuscript were contacted and included if data meeting the inclusion criteria were provided. Included studies were evaluated for bias using a tailored QUADAS-2 checklist. The study protocol was prospectively registered on PROSPERO database (CRD42020168953).

The searches identified 3,599 studies, 15 met the inclusion criteria and 12 were included in the meta-analysis. Data was reported from 6 countries and included a total of 2,270 patients. The aggregate weighted sensitivity of the 20WBCT at detecting INR >1.4 was 0.84 (CI 0.61 to 0.94), the specificity was 0.91 (0.76 to 0.97) and the SROC AUC was 0.94 (CI 0.91 to 0.96). The aggregate weighted sensitivity of the 20WBCT at detecting fibrinogen <100 mg/dL was 0.72 (CI 0.58 to 0.83), the specificity was 0.94 (CI 0.88 to 0.98) and the SROC AUC was 0.93 (0.91 to 0.95). Both analyses that used INR and fibrinogen as the reference test displayed considerable heterogeneity.

Conclusions
In the absence of laboratory clotting assays, the 20WBCT remains a highly specific and fairly sensitive bedside test at detecting coagulopathy following snakebite. However, clinicians should be aware of the importance of operator training, standardized equipment and the lower sensitivity of the 20WBCT at detecting mild coagulopathy and resolution of coagulopathy following antivenom.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: QY Clinical Pathology > Blood. Blood Chemistry > QY 410 Coagulation
WA Public Health > Statistics. Surveys > WA 950 Theory or methods of medical statistics. Epidemiologic methods
WD Disorders of Systemic, Metabolic or Environmental Origin, etc > Animal Poisons > WD 410 Reptiles
Faculty: Department: Biological Sciences > Department of Tropical Disease Biology
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009657
Depositing User: Marie Hatton
Date Deposited: 02 Sep 2021 15:21
Last Modified: 24 Jun 2022 10:29
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/18800

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