Introduction Hypertension in pregnancy is still a major risk factor for maternal and fetal morbidity all over the world. Changes in coagulation tests are seen in patients with pre-eclampsia and is important to understand its significance in planning management of patients with pre-eclampsia.

Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of coagulation screen in clinical management of patients with preeclampsia.

Materials and Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of women with hypertension in pregnancy during the period from January 2008 to July 2009 in West Cumberland Hospital. These women were evaluated for severity of pre-eclampsia and also for any coagulation abnormalities (prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time and fibrinogen).

Results 104 women were included in the study. Thrombocytopenia (platelets <150 000) is one of the indicators of severity of disease. Using thrombocytopenia as a indicator of severity of the disease, coagulation screen had a sensitivity of only 4%. Also coagulation screen is more expensive and time consuming compared to determination of platelet count. Thus coagulation screen should not be considered as a first line investigation of women with normal platelets in pre-eclampsia.