The effect of intravenous safflower oil emulsion on the clotting mechanism.
A new fat emulsion for intravenous use, derived from safflower oil (Abbott Laboratories), was studied. The clotting mechanism was compared with a battery of tests performed during the infusion of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) using glucose alone and during infusion of TPN using both glucose and fat. Five adult surgical patients underwent TPN with 7.0 per cent amino acid solution for ten days, receiving glucose as their only nonprotein calorie source on days one, two, nine, and ten (40 kcal/kg/day). On days three through eight, 10 per cent fat emulsion (600-900 ml/day) was given each day to provide one-third of the nonprotein calories. Simplate bleeding time, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen (Biuret method), platelet count, platelet aggregation, serum functional antithrombin, and viscoelastic curves were measured on days one, three, six, and ten. Some of these studies were abnormal at baseline and during the study. No significant changes were seen with fat emulsion infusion. The patients did not exhibit any evidence of clinical bleeding. This new intravenous fat emulsion did not appear to be associated with alterations in the clotting mechanism. However, two of five patients showed increases in serum triglycerides and one patient died during the study.