Thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients: A review of the literature

Summary Thrombocytopenia is a common hematologic problem encountered in critically ill patients. Several conditions are particularly associated with this disorder (DIC, trauma, sepsis…). Its onset usually arise debates concerning its exact cause, evaluation of risk of bleeding, transfusion requirement and prognostic impact. Epidemiologic and prognostic data available in the literature about thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients are different according to studied population and thresholds adopted to define this hematologic disorder. The aim of this review is to describe the epidemiology of thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients, to report the main causes of thrombocytopenia in ICU and to establish its prognostic impact.