Clinical outcomes of prophylactic platelet transfusion in patients with dengue: A retrospective study of patients at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi

Objective: To determine the benefit of prophylactic platelet transfusion on clinical outcomes in patients with dengue fever. Methods: The retrospective cohort study was conducted at Patel Hospital, Karachi, and comprised record of patients fulfilling World Health Organisation's diagnostic criteria for dengue between 2009 and 2015. We excluded patients with known auto-immune thrombocytopenia, isolated infection with a pathogen other than dengue virus, drug-induced thrombocytopenia and patients requiring therapeutic transfusion. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis. Results: Of the 639 dengue patients, 209(32.7%) were transfused platelets (group 1) while 430(67.3%) were not (group 2). There was a significant difference in minor bleeding episodes (65(31.1%) in the transfused group vs. 59(13.7%) in the non-transfused group; p=0.000). Similarly, 4(1.9%) patients died in group 1vs. 1(0.2%) in group 2 (p=0.024). The mean cost of hospital stay was Rs26,733±5,780 in group 1 vs. Rs5,266±3,627 in group 2 (p=0.000). Conclusion: Prophylactic transfusion in dengue patients provided little or no clinical benefit in preventing bleeding complications, and substantially increased medical costs.