Haemostatic treatment in connection with surgery in patients with von Willebrand disease

Haemostatic treatment in patients with von Willebrand disease (vWD) in connection with surgery aims at normalizing the haemostatic defect in order to avoid bleeding complications. Factor VIII (FVIII) levels in plasma must be normalized in connection with major surgery, whereas the bleeding time is more important for mucous membrane bleedings. Most patients respond well to treatment with desmopressin which stimulates the endogenous release of FVIII and von Willebrand factor (vWF) and shortens the bleeding time. Non-responders to desmopressin are substituted with a plasma-derived factor concentrate which contains vWF and FVIII. This paper includes a summary of retrospective data from the last 10 years on haemostatic treatment in connection with surgery from four haemophilia centres in Sweden and Denmark on 40 invasive procedures in 27 vWD patients and on one normal delivery. If a FVIII-containing concentrate is given prior to surgery a dose of 30–40 IU VIII:C kg⁻¹ will normalize FVIII levels in most severe cases. If a pure vWF concentrate is used, a dose of 40–50 IU RCoF kg⁻¹ will normalize RCoF in most cases, but FVIII levels will not be normalized until after about 12 h or later. Repeated doses of FVIII-vWF concentrate may lead to very high levels of FVIII in plasma because of the combined effect of the exogenous FVIII-substitution and the endogenous FVIII-release induces by the infused vWF. Dosage should be adjusted according to FVIII levels in plasma.