CHAPTER 69 – Platelet Storage and Transfusion

Platelets maintain normal hemostasis through their elaborate responses to vascular injury. Accordingly, patients with low numbers of circulating platelets or functionally hyporeactive platelets are at increased risk of spontaneous bleeding or hemorrhage following traumatic injuries or during surgical procedures. Thrombocytopenic bleeding was a major cause of death in patients with acute leukemia until platelet concentrates (PC) became widely available in the early 1970s.1 Before then, the only source of viable platelets was freshly drawn whole blood.2 Routine platelet transfusion therapy was made possible in large part by the development of gas-permeable plastic containers that facilitate the collection, separation, and storage of platelets from whole blood. Today, PC are used extensively to support patients who receive thrombocytopenia-inducing, intensive therapies for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. 3,4