Comparison of the Duke and Ivy Bleeding Times in Normal Subjects and in Patients with Different Platelet Counts

Duke and Ivy bleeding times were determined in 58 healthy male subjects as well as 97 patients with different platelet counts. The mean Duke bleeding time and mean Ivy bleeding time in the normal subjects were 1.75 min and 3.155 min respectively. In spite of having normal platelet count, 24 patients in our study with different disorders still had a significantly longer mean Ivy bleeding time, but not Duke bleeding time, in comparison with the healthy subjects (p=0.0001). In patients with mild thrombocytopenia (platelet count 100-150 x 10^9/1), mean Duke bleeding time showed no difference to the mean Duke bleeding time of the healthy subjects (p=0.199). On the other hand, mean Ivy bleeding time was significantly longer than that of the healthy subjects (p＜0.0001). In patients with moderate and severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count 50-100 x 10^9/1 and 20-50 x 10^9, respectively), both the Duke and Ivy mean bleeding times were significantly longer than those of the healthy subjects. In the moderate to severe thrombocytopenic patients, Ivy method was more significant than Duke method (p＜0.0001 and p=0.0001). Thus Ivy bleeding time was more sensitive than Duke bleeding time either in patients with normal platelet count or in patients with mild, moderate or severe thrombocytopenia.