Haemostasis impairment in patients with obstructive jaundice.

As part of the multifactorial role of liver in protein synthesis, many coagulation factors, natural anticoagulants, and compounds of the fibrinolytic system are produced in the liver. A prolonged liver disease, either biliary obstruction or parenchymal liver disease, is consecutively accompanied by abnormal clotting. In the present paper we review the haemostasis impairment in obstructive jaundice with special reference to the hepatic cirrhosis and failure, to systemic inflammation and sepsis that develops in cholestatic diseases, and finally in some other benign or malignant diseases including pancreatic adenocarcinoma, acute pancreatitis, cholangiocarcinoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Finally, a special reference to the possible therapeutic interventions has been made. The aim of the present review is to collect the current concepts concerning the haemostasis impairment in obstructive jaundice and provide practical guidelines for the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Understanding the pathophysiology of haemostatic changes in patients with cholestasis, and, more generally, liver disease, is the hallmark of accurate diagnosis and treatment.