Half-dose Platelet Transfusions
Half-dose Platelet Transfusions
Blood product transfusion is one of the most common procedures performed in hospitals and has come under scrutiny in the last several years as evidence mounts for more restrictive transfusion in even the most critically ill patients. Recently, the concept that platelets are pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic, once theory, is now more accepted as more studies are finding this correlation in platelet transfusion.
Our Patient Blood Management Program created a half-dose platelet transfusion policy and we retrospectively analyzed patient outcomes. The main rationale for this change in dose was:
- the lack of evidence of increased bleeding and mortality in lower dose platelet transfusion,
- the current platelet dose is not evidence-based,
- many blood centers have experienced platelet shortages.
The aim of this analysis is to create a process to transfuse the lowest effective platelet dose to provide bleeding prophylaxis while minimizing transfusion related reactions and toxicity.
Our study suggests that administering half doses of platelets is both a safe and effective approach for non-bleeding adult patients receiving prophylactic transfusions.
Additional studies in collaboration with pediatric specialties are in development.