Tag Archives: Platelet Transfusion

Goal-directed platelet transfusions correct platelet dysfunction and may improve survival in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. (Newman)

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Furay E, et al. Goal-directed platelet transfusions correct platelet dysfunction and may improve survival in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2018 Nov;85(5):881-887.

BACKGROUND: Platelet dysfunction, defined as adenosine diphosphate inhibition greater than 60% on thromboelastogram, is an independent predictor of increased mortality in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). We changed our practice to transfuse platelets for all patients with severe TBI and platelet dysfunction. We hypothesized that platelet transfusions would correct platelet dysfunction and improve mortality in patients with severe TBI.

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Should All Massively Transfused Patients Be Treated Equally? An Analysis of Massive Transfusion Ratios in the Nontrauma Setting. (Chaudhary)

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Etchill EW, Myers SP, McDaniel LM, Rosengart MR, Raval JS, Triulzi DJ,
Peitzman AB, Sperry JL, Neal MD. Should All Massively Transfused Patients Be Treated Equally? An Analysis of Massive Transfusion Ratios in the Nontrauma Setting. Crit Care Med. 2017 Aug;45(8):1311-1316.

OBJECTIVES: Although balanced resuscitation has become integrated into massive transfusion practice, there is a paucity of evidence supporting the delivery of high ratios of plasma and platelet to RBCs in the nontrauma setting. This study investigated the administration of blood component ratios in the massively transfused nontrauma demographic.

DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a prospective, observational cohort of massively bleeding patients.

SETTING: Surgical and critically ill patients at a tertiary medical center between 2011 and 2015.

PATIENTS: Massively transfused nontrauma patients.

INTERVENTIONS: Patients receiving plasma, platelet, and RBC transfusions were categorized into high and low ratio groups and analyzed for differences in characteristics and clinical outcomes.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included 48-hour mortality, hospital length of stay, ICU length of stay, and ventilator-free days. Among 601 massively transfused nontrauma patients, cardiothoracic surgery and gastrointestinal or hepato-pancreatico-biliary bleeds were the most common indications for massive transfusion. Higher fresh frozen plasma ratios (> 1:2) were not associated with increased 30-day mortality. A high platelets-to-packed RBCs ratio (> 1:2) was associated with decreased 48-hour mortality (10.5% vs 19.3%; p = 0.032), but not 30-day mortality. Fresh frozen plasma-to-packed RBCs and platelets-to-packed RBCs ratios were not associated with 30-day mortality hazard ratios after controlling for baseline characteristics and disease severity.

CONCLUSIONS: The benefits of higher ratios of fresh frozen plasma-to-packed RBCs and platelets-to-packed RBCs described in trials of trauma patients were not observed in this analysis of a nontrauma, massively transfused population. These data suggest that greater than 1:2 ratio transfusion in the setting of massive hemorrhage may not be appropriate for all patients, and that further research to guide appropriate resuscitation strategies in nontrauma patients is warranted

A no-prophylaxis platelet-transfusion strategy for hematologic cancers. (Wittkamp)

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N Engl J Med. 2013 May 9;368(19):1771-80. PMID: 23656642

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of platelet transfusions to prevent bleeding in patients with hematologiccancers remains unclear. This trial assessed whether a policy of not giving prophylactic platelet transfusions was as effective and safe as a policy of providing prophylaxis.

METHODS: We conducted this randomized, open-label, noninferiority trial at 14 centers in the United Kingdom and Australia. Patients were randomly assigned to receive, or not to receive, prophylactic platelet transfusions when morning platelet counts were less than 10×10(9) per liter. Eligible patients were persons 16 years of age or older who were receiving chemotherapy or undergoing stem-cell transplantation and who had or were expected to have thrombocytopenia. The primary end point was bleeding of World Health Organization (WHO) grade 2, 3, or 4 up to 30 days after randomization.

RESULTS: A total of 600 patients (301 in the no-prophylaxis group and 299 in the prophylaxis group) underwent randomization between 2006 and 2011. Bleeding of WHO grade 2, 3, or 4 occurred in 151 of 300 patients (50%) in the no-prophylaxis group, as compared with 128 of 298 (43%) in the prophylaxis group (adjusted difference in proportions, 8.4 percentage points; 90% confidence interval, 1.7 to 15.2; P=0.06 for noninferiority). Patients in theno-prophylaxis group had more days with bleeding and a shorter time to the first bleeding episode than did patients in the prophylaxis group. Platelet use was markedly reduced in the no-prophylaxis group. A prespecified subgroup analysis identified similar rates of bleeding in the two study groups among patients undergoing autologous stem-cell transplantation.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study support the need for the continued use of prophylaxis with platelet transfusion and show the benefit of such prophylaxis for reducing bleeding, as compared with no prophylaxis. A significant number of patients had bleeding despite prophylaxis. (Funded by the National Health Service Blood and Transplant Research and Development Committee and the Australian Red Cross Blood Service; TOPPS Controlled-Trials.com number, ISRCTN08758735.).

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