Burden of Thrombocytopenia in Critically Ill Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background; Neonatal thrombocytopenia is one of the commonest hematological abnormality encountered in neonatal intensive care unit. Though thrombocytopenia is prevalent it is often overlooked assuming it will resolve spontaneously. However, if it is not detected and managed properly can result in devastating complications. Objective; To determine the frequency of thrombocytopenia in sick neonates admitted in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Material and Methods; A total 282 newborns admitted to NICU of department of Pediatrics, Nishtar Hospital, Multan were included in this cross-sectional were enrolled, their blood samples were taken for estimation of platelet count to diagnose thrombocytopenia and all the data was analyzed by SPSS. Results; Of these 282 study cases, 198 (70.2 %) were male patients while 84 (29.8 %) were female patients. Mean age of our study cases was 5.18 ± 3.69 days. Of these 282 study cases, 85 (30.1 %) belonged to rural areas and 197 (69.9 %) belonged to urban areas. Of these 282 study cases, 187 (66.3%) mothers were illiterate while 95 (33.3%) were literate. Preterm birth was noted in 116 (41.1 %) of our study cases. Of these 282 study cases, 188 (66.7%) were born through vaginal deliveries while 94 (33.3%) by cesarean section. Mean duration of disease was 2.34 ± 1.10 days and 241 (85.5%) had disease duration up to 3 days. Mean platelet count of our study cases was 156575.24 ± 50250.53 mm 3 and thrombocytopenia was present in 104 (36.9%). Conclusion; High frequency of thrombocytopenia was observed in sick neonates in our study. Thrombocytopenia was significantly associated with age, residential status, maternal literacy, preterm births, mode of delivery and disease duration. All the clinicians treating such patients should regularly monitor platelet count of all the patients admitted to NICU for early diagnosis and timely management to save them further complications. This will not only decrease disease morbidity but will also reduce mortalities in these patients.