Is fresh frozen plasma effective for thrombocytopenia in adults with dengue fever? A prospective randomised double blind controlled study.

Rationale: Thrombocytopenia is a common problem which causes concern and complications in dengue fever. If proven effective, intravenous fresh frozen plasma is a simple and widely available therapeutic option to manage thrombocytopenia.

Objective: To test the efficacy of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) on thrombocytopenia in patients with dengue fever.

Design: 109 serologically confirmed dengue patients with platelet counts <40 000/mm3 were randomised into two groups. Group A (treatment) comprised 53 patients and group B (control) 56 patients. Group A received an intravenous infusion of 3 units (600 ml) of FFP over 90 minutes. Group B received an intravenous infusion of an equal volume of isotonic saline over the same period. The primary outcome measure was the difference between pre- and post-interventional platelet counts at 12, 24 and 48 hours.

Results: Following Intervention, the mean platelet count was significantly higher in Group Athan in Group B at 12 hours (p=0.04; t-test). The mean platelet counts continued to be higher in Group A than in Group B at 24 and 48 hours post-intervention, but the differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: In dengue patients with thrombocytopenia, infusion of 600 ml FFP may contribute to a significant increase in platelet count in the first 12 hours, but not thereafter.