This is a test that measures fibrin degradation products (which result from clots dissolving) in blood.

Blood is drawn from a vein on the inside of the elbow or the back of the hand. The puncture site is cleaned with antiseptic, and an elastic band is placed around the upper arm to apply pressure and restrict blood flow through the vein. This causes veins below the band to fill with blood.

A needle is inserted into the vein, and the blood is collected in an airtight vial or a syringe. During the procedure, the band is removed to restore circulation. Once the blood has been collected, the needle is removed, and the puncture site is covered to stop any bleeding.

For an infant or young child, the area is cleansed with antiseptic and punctured with a sharp needle or a lancet. The blood may be collected in a pipette (small glass tube), on a slide, onto a test strip, or into a small container. Cotton or a bandage may be applied to the puncture site if there is any continued bleeding.

The health care provider should be notified if you are using any drugs that can affect the test result. Drugs that may increase FDPs include barbiturates, heparin, streptokinase, and urokinase.

When the needle is inserted to draw blood, some people feel moderate pain, while others feel only a prick or stinging sensation. Afterward, there may be some throbbing.

As a result of the coagulation process, fibrinogen is split into fibrin monomer and fibrin. Fibrin monomer forms the fibrin polymer clot.

Coagulation factor inhibitors and plasmin (which eventually breaks down, or lyses, the fibrin clot) are simultaneously activated by damaged tissue, but they function more slowly and over a longer period of time than the coagulation factors. The most important of the coagulation inhibitors is antithrombin III, a protein that requires a chemical called heparin, which is made by the body, for its activity.

By measuring FDPs, your doctor can get an idea about the activity of your fibrinolytic (clot-dissolving) system. When plasmin dissolves fibrin blood clots, FDPs are formed. These FDPs, which have an anticoagulant effect and inhibit clotting, can be measured. When they are present in large amounts, they indicate increased fibrinolysis, or clot breakdown, as occurs in disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and primary fibrinolytic disorders.

The result is normally less than 10 mcg/mL.

Note: mcg/mL = micrograms per milliliter

Increased FDPs may indicate primary or secondary fibrinolysis (clot-dissolving activity) from such conditions as:

• Abruptio placentae
• Burns
• Congenital heart disease
• Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)
• Following cardiopulmonary (heart and lungs) pump surgery
• Following massive blood transfusion
• Hypoxia
• Infections
• Intrauterine fetal death
• Leukemia
• Liver disease (see cirrhosis)
• Portacaval shunt
• Preeclampsia
• Renal disease (see kidney failure)
• Septicemia
• Thromboembolic states
• Transplant rejection
• Transfusion reaction

• Excessive bleeding
• Fainting or feeling light-headed
• Hematoma (blood accumulating under the skin)
• Infection (a slight risk any time the skin is broken)
• Multiple punctures to locate veins

Veins and arteries vary in size from one patient to another, and from one side of the body to the other. Obtaining a blood sample from some people may be more difficult than from others.