Efficacy and safety of recombinant human thrombopoietin in adult patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia during the perioperative period

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) treatment for primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) patients during the perioperative period. Methods Adult ITP patients who were refractory to first-line glucocorticoid therapy and underwent selective surgery were enrolled to be treated with rhTPO at the dosage of 1.5×104U/d subcutaneously during the perioperative period. rhTPO treatment would not be terminated until one of the following conditions occurred: ①Platelet counts met the requirement of surgery; ②Platelet counts were ≥100×109/L; ③Completed the 14 days of therapy. End points of the study were surgery rate, rhTPO therapy response rate, rescue therapy rate and adverse responses. Results 42 patients were enrolled from Jan. 1, 2016 to Jun. 30, 2018. 14 were male and 28 were female. The median age was 60 (25-73) years old. There were no newly diagnosed patients. 5 patients were persistent and 37 were chronic. 27 patients completed selective surgery. The surgery rate was 64.3% (27/42) . Among them, 13 patients were under local anesthesia and 14 under general anesthesia. Of 42 cases receiving rhTPO therapy. 31 patients achieved responses, The overall response rate was of 73.8%. Among them, 24 patients achieved CR. The CR ratio was 77.4% (24/31) . 7 achieved response. The response ratio was 22.6% (7/31) . 11 patients did not respond to rhTPO therapy. The non-response rate was 26.2% (11/42) . The median time to reach CR was 7 (3-16) days. The median time to reach the peak of platelet counts were 10 (3-21) days. rhTPO was used for a median of 7 (3-14) days. The median platelet counts of patients undergoing surgery before rhTPO therapy, before surgery and at day 7 after surgery were 33 (20-89) ×109/L, 125 (78-245) ×109/L and 72 (30-250) ×109/L, respectively. The median peak of platelet counts was 149 (101-466) ×109/L. No infection, bleeding, thromboembolism and therapy-related adverse responses occurred in the patients. Conclusion rhTPO for ITP patients during the perioperative period is safe and effective. Key words: Thrombocytopenia; Perioperative period; Thrombopoietin