DIC is when your body's blood clotting mechanisms are activated throughout the body instead of being localized to an area of injury. Small blood clots form throughout the body, and eventually the blood clotting factors are used up and not available to form clots at sites of real tissue injury. Clot dissolving mechanisms are also increased.

This disorder has variable effects, and can result in either clotting symptoms or, more often, bleeding. Bleeding can be severe. DIC may be stimulated by many factors. These include infection in the blood by bacteria or fungus, severe tissue injury (as in burns and head injury), cancer, reactions to blood transfusions, and obstetrical complications (such as retained placenta after delivery).

Risk factors are recent sepsis, recent injury or trauma, recent surgery or anesthesia, complications of labor and delivery, leukemia or disseminated cancer, recent blood transfusion reaction, and severe liver disease.

• Bleeding, possibly from multiple sites in the body
• Thrombosis formation evidenced by bluish coloration of the fingers
• Sudden bruising

• Fibrinogen and/or fibrin - high degradation products
• Serum fibrinogen - low
• Prothrombin time (PT) - high
• Partial throboplastin time (PTT) - high
• Platelet count
• Thrombin time test

• Severe bleeding
• Stroke
• Lack of blood flow to arms, legs, or organs