Bleeding time in normal children.
OBJECTIVE
Because there is little information on bleeding times (BTs) in children we initiated the following study.


METHODS
Normal children undergoing elective surgery and adult volunteers had their bleeding times measured with a disposable device (Simplate) with a vertical incision in the forearm. Results in children (four age groups) and adults, male and female, were compared.


RESULTS
The mean time in children was 270 s with a 95th percentile of 420 s compared with a mean time in adults of 320 s and a 95th percentile of 480 s (p = 0.001). Although the values in the various age groups and sexes were different, only sex had a statistically different value in adults.


CONCLUSIONS
The following reference values should be used for children: 0-4 years, 4 +/- 1 min; boys > 4 years, 5 +/- 1 min; girls > 4 years, 5.5 +/- 1 min. We conclude that results obtained in children are significantly shorter than those obtained in normal adult subjects.
Aversa
L A
LA
Unidad Hematología, Hospital de Niños Dr. Ricardo Gutiérrez, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Vázquez
A
A
Peñalver
J A
JA
Dascal
E
E
Bustelo
P M
PM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001777:Blood Coagulation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010314:Partial Thromboplastin Time; D010976:Platelet Count; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011517:Prothrombin Time; D012737:Sex Factors; D013918:Thrombin Time