title: [Thrombocytopenia in the intensive care unit : Diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and treatment].
abstract: Thrombocytopenia is a frequent phenomenon in intensive care medicine. A variety of conditions can be responsible for low platelet counts. As platelets are part of the primary hemostatic system, bleeding is the most important complication of thrombocytopenia. Proper workup of the differential diagnosis to identify the cause of thrombocytopenia is essential because the various underlying disorders require different diagnostic and therapeutic management strategies. A low platelet count is a strong predictor of outcome in critically ill patients.This article summarizes the differential diagnosis and diagnostic workup of thrombocytopenia in the critically ill, describes the most important conditions, and gives an overview on therapeutic options and strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine 1, Division of Hematology and Hemostasis, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Österreich. paul.knoebl@meduniwien.ac.at.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Knöbl
mesh_terms: D001791:Blood Platelet Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004211:Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D010976:Platelet Count; D011379:Prognosis; D011697:Purpura, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D012307:Risk Factors; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy
keywords: Blood platelet disorders; Consumption coagulopathy; Critical illness; Hemorrhage; Purpura, thrombotic thrombopenic