DIC is a life-threatening condition triggered by severe illness like sepsis, cancer, or trauma. The body forms widespread clots that block blood vessels and damage organs, then runs out of clotting factors and bleeds uncontrollably. It requires immediate treatment to prevent death.
In this video, we're going to walk through Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, or dic. Now, before we dive in, I want to make sure that you know about this free critical thinking cheat sheet that I have for you. We'll put the link to it in the description below for you to snag it and use it while you study. It will be really, really helpful for you as you go through nursing school and it will help you be more prepared for your nursing exams because you're always going to be tested on critical thinking. So be sure to snag that after watching this video. So there's two things that you need to know about DO right from the get go. Number one, it does not just happen on its own. It's always caused by something else like a critical illness like cancer or sepsis. We'll talk more about the causes of DIC in a minute, but that's a huge thing to know right up front. The second thing to know is that DIC is a medical emergency and needs to be caught and treated immediately or it is fatal. So just keep these two things in mind and remember them for your exams because they are really, really to know. So what's going on with the pathophysiology of dic? Well, DIC is when there is an overstimulation of the clotting cascade and the clotting process in the blood happens systemically all throughout the body and it's uncontrollable. There's a lot of blood clotting happening uncontrollably which compromises blood flow to the organs in the tissues. This is a medical emergency and it needs to be reversed quickly. Like we just mentioned, DAC doesn't just happen on its own, but it is a complication from other severe and acute illnesses such as major infections, cancer, sepsis, trauma, reactions to a blood transfusion, or in some cases, pregnancy complications. So here's what happens. We'll put it into simple steps for you to follow to help you learn it faster. As you know, I always love to put pathophysiology and these more difficult concepts into step by step processes for you to follow. So step number one of this process in DIC is when the clotting cascades are triggered and uncontrollable clotting starts all over the body. This overstimulation of the clotting cascade leads to many micro clots to form and it compromises blood flow to those areas that the blood is supposed to go to. Now this is step number two There is a reduced blood flow to the tissues and the organs. It's often compromising blood flow to major organs. And since the clots form all over the body, it can lead to multi system organ failure from a lack of blood flow. And then in step number three, if DIC progresses, the body will use up all of its platelets, the fibrinogen and the clotting factors and it can no longer clot, which will result in hemorrhaging, which is now step number four. So since there are small clots forming all over the body, reducing blood flow to the organs and the clotting cascade and the factors are being consumed for those clots, the body is also hemorrhaging. So during dic, the clotting cascade is an overdrive and the blood is clotting uncontrollably all throughout the body. This compromises blood flow to the organs and the tissues and depletes the clotting factors that fibrinogen and the platelets leading to hemorrhage. Now, if you are struggling to study in nursing school, one of the best things that you can do is learn how to make concept maps. So in this video here, I'm going to walk you through how to make concept maps so you can learn things faster and study more effectively to pass your exams. And if you love this video, write love in the comments below and go become the nurse that God created only you to be. And I will see you over there in that next video.
