title: Alternative agents versus prophylactic platelet transfusion for preventing bleeding in patients with thrombocytopenia due to chronic bone marrow failure: a network meta-analysis and systematic review.
abstract: This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To compare the relative efficacy of different treatments for thrombocytopenia (artificial platelet substitutes, platelet-poor plasma, fibrinogen, rFVIIa, rFXIII, thrombopoietin mimetics, antifibrinolytic drugs or platelet transfusions) in patients with chronic bone marrow failure and to derive a hierarchy of potential alternate treatments to platelet transfusions.
authors.affiliation: Haematology/Transfusion Medicine, NHS Blood and Transplant, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Desborough
authors.affiliation: Haematology/Transfusion Medicine, NHS Blood and Transplant, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Lise J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Estcourt
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chaimani
authors.affiliation: Systematic Review Initiative, NHS Blood and Transplant, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Doree
authors.affiliation: Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hopewell
authors.affiliation: Centre for Statistics in Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Marialena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trivella
authors.affiliation: Human Immunology Unit, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Andreas V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Hadjinicolaou
authors.affiliation: MRC Molecular Haematology Unit and Department of Haematology, University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Paresh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vyas
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Simon J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Stanworth