Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in Neurological Conditions: An Observation from the Eastern Part of India

Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an extracorporeal process of separation of plasma from the cellular components of blood and its replacement with analogous fluids. This process is effective in treatment of disease conditions from dysregulation of the humoral immune system by removal of various humoral pathogenic substances like antibodies, immune complexes, monoclonal proteins, toxins or cytokine(s) and/or the replenishment of a specific plasma factor.

To evaluate major indications of therapeutic plasma exchange in neurological disorders. To identify major complications associated and factors associated with premature cessation of the therapeutic plasma exchange cycle. Materials and Methods: This is a hospital based retrospective study conducted by analyzing medical records of patients, who had undergone therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for various neurological disorders at IMS & SUM hospital. Medical records total 118 patients who underwent TPE from January 2016 to December 2021 were analyzed. The demographic data, blood group pattern and indications for TPE were enumerated from the records. Various complications of TPE and reasons for incomplete TPE cycle were documented and analyzed.

A total of 508 TPE procedures were performed on 118 patients. In this study 61 patients were male and 57 patients were female. O-blood group was commonest blood group among the patients. GBS is the commonest indication of TPE. 57.6 % of patients could complete all sessions TPE cycle. Blockage of vascular access is the commonest cause of incomplete TPE session. Cramps (33%) and mild transient hypotension (27.1%0 were the commonest complications observed.

TPE is a safe and effective treatment option for various immune-mediated neurological disorders and should be considered in managing these disorders.