title: Physician compliance with platelet usage criteria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  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.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate physician compliance with the platelet transfusion criteria in our tertiary care academic institution.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. daphnechuaang@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Daphne Chua
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Ang
authors.forename: Luminita
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marinescu
authors.forename: Mercy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuriyan
mesh_terms: D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D010976:Platelet Count; D017713:Platelet Transfusion; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data