The effect of carbenicillin on the haemostatic mechanism

Abstract

Carbenicillin has no effect on the thrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, platelet factor 3 availability, fibrinogen and plasminogen levels, Factor XIII, fibrin plate lysis or euglobulin lysis time in vitro in concentrations from 20–1280 μg ml−1. After incubation with plasma, carbenicillin inhibited platelet aggregation to ADP at all the concentrations examined (20–1280 μg ml−1). The same coagulation tests were unaffected 30 min and 4 h after intravenous administration of 5 g of carbenicillin to six normal subjects, though some impairment of platelet response to ADP occurred in three subjects. This impairment of platelet function is considered unlikely to contribute towards a bleeding tendency in normal subjects but might perhaps be a contributory factor in haemostatic failures in patients with uraemia.