Platelet Utilization In a Tertiary Care Hospital: An Opportunity for Reduced Transfusion?

Use of platelet (plt) transfusions to treat and prevent bleeding varies widely between hospitals and by medical and surgical services. Standard indications include active bleeding with thrombocytopenia or plt dysfunction, pre or peri-invasive procedure, and prophylaxis for low plt counts. Rising demand for plt transfusions and donor shortage, coupled with the risks of transfusion (including infectious disease transmission and alloimmunization) are concerns which often lead to strict regulation of plt transfusion in hospitals. In order to evaluate appropriate use of plt transfusion based on Newark Beth Israel Medical Center transfusion guidelines, a review of plt use was undertaken at this tertiary care hospital. Design: A retrospective review was performed of plt utilization over a 3 month period from October to December 2009. All charts of hospitalized and outpatient patients receiving plt transfusions were reviewed to determine reasons for plt transfusion. Pre-transfusion plt values, site/service ordering plt transfusions, number of units transfused and cost were determined.

421 plt units were transfused to 125 patients (51.6% female), mean age 44 years (yrs.) (range 0–89). All plt transfusions were single donor units. The mean plt count prior to transfusion for all procedures was 127,000, well above hospital guidelines. The majority of plt utilized were by cardiothoracic (CT) surgery (168/421, 40%) with the highest cost (Table 1). 124/421(29%) of transfusions occurred pre- or peri- invasive procedure, with 88/124 (71%) of those transfusions occurring prior or peri- cardio-thoracic procedure. 83/421 (20%) of transfusions had no clear indication based on hospital guidelines, predominately ordered by CT surgery and occurring post-op for asymptomatic thrombocytopenia (cost $45, 650). The mean plt count at which transfusion was found to have no indication was 55,000 (range 25,000–105,000). 136/421(32%) of the cases were prophylactic transfusions with a plt count < 20,000, with 121/136 (89%) in the oncology patients, and the rest in the medical pts due to sepsis. 114/421(27%) of the transfusions were for bleeding. Only 5 patients, 3 in the CT group, and 2 in neonate group had plt dysfunction as the indication for transfusion prior to procedure. The lowest incidence of plt transfusions without an indication was in the adult oncology department.

Platelet utilization varied by departments. CT surgery followed by neonatal and pediatric oncology are the principal users of plt in our tertiary care medical center. CT surgery, general surgery, and neonatal services had the highest pre-transfusion plt counts. As 20% of all transfusions had no clinical reason for plt use (no bleeding, invasive procedure, or severely low plt count) the opportunities may exist for lower platelet usage by educating physicians about compliance to transfusion guidelines in order to decrease the risks associated with transfusion and resultant complications.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.