Physician compliance with platelet usage criteria

Platelet transfusions are used in clinical practice as prophylaxis or to treat bleeding thrombocytopenic patients. This procedure also carries risks and costs and must be allocated appropriately.

To evaluate physician compliance with the platelet transfusion criteria in our tertiary care academic institution.

We evaluated platelet unit releases from the transfusion service for 4 months, and we retrieved pretransfusion platelet counts. Reasons for transfusion were obtained by reviewing patient charts and talking to clinicians. Compliance with hospital criteria for platelet use was determined.

Platelets were given to 113 patients in 282 transfusion episodes. Criteria were not met for 32 (11%) of 282 platelet transfusions. Justifiable reasons for transfusion at platelet counts of greater than 10 x 10(3)/microL included bleeding risk from oral ulcers, other risks of bleeding in patients who were transfused before discharge, and antiplatelet drug use in cardiac surgery patients. Reasons for transfusion at platelet counts greater than 10 x 10(3)/ microL that were not justified include transfusion at a platelet count of 110 x 10(3)/microL to a lung cancer patient with no platelet dysfunction and transfusion to 4 septic patients with platelet counts of 70 to 90 x 10(3)/microL.

This study showed 89% physician compliance with hospital platelet transfusion criteria. Transfusion-medicine specialists concurred that strict adherence to hospital blood usage criteria was not applicable for 9.2% of these patients; however, 5 (1.8%) of 282 platelet transfusions were not indicated and could have been prevented by transfusion medicine physician intervention.