Cardiac surgery in a patient with severe thrombocytopenia: How low is too low.

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Date
2013-07
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Abstract
Platelets play a very important role in hemostasis, especially after cardiac surgery. Excessive bleeding after such surgery may lead to increased need for transfusion and its incumbent increase in post-operative morbidity and mortality. Although most cardiac surgeons will offer a surgical option to a patient with moderate thrombocytopenia (platelet count around 70 × 10 9 /L), successful cardiac surgery has not been reported in patients with significantly lower platelets counts (less than 40 × 10 9 /L). We report a case of severe thrombocytopenia (19 × 10 9 /L) where coronary artery bypass grafting was performed with minimal blood loss post-operatively, discuss the patient's management and provide insights while dealing with such patients.
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Keywords
Bleeding, Cardiac surgery, Thrombocytopenia
Citation
Ashoub Ahmed, Lakshmanan Suresh, Luckraz Heyman. Cardiac surgery in a patient with severe thrombocytopenia: How low is too low. Annals of Cardiac Anaesthesia. 2013 Jul; 16(3): 215-217.