Trajectory of platelets in pregnancy - do low-risk women need an intrapartum full blood count prior to epidural?

Christine Duong; Giselle Kidson-Gerber; Nancy Peters; Dave R Listijono; Amanda Henry

doi:10.1111/ajo.12362

Trajectory of platelets in pregnancy - do low-risk women need an intrapartum full blood count prior to epidural?

Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2015 Oct;55(5):511-4. doi: 10.1111/ajo.12362. Epub 2015 Jul 29.

Authors

Christine Duong¹, Giselle Kidson-Gerber², Nancy Peters¹, Dave R Listijono^{1

3}, Amanda Henry^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Women's and Children's Health, St George Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
² South Eastern Laboratory Services, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ School of Women's and Children's Health, UNSW Medicine, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ Australian Centre for Perinatal Science, UNSW Medicine, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

PMID: 26222736
DOI: 10.1111/ajo.12362

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether pregnant women with a normal 28-week gestation platelet count and no high-risk conditions for thrombocytopenia require a pre-epidural platelet count. All 1844 included women (platelet count > 150 × 10(9) /L at 28 weeks' gestation, term singleton birth, no thrombocytopenia risk conditions) had a platelet count > 100 × 10(9) /L prebirth, suggesting low-risk pregnant women do not require pre-epidural full blood count solely to check platelet count.

Keywords: epidural; labour; platelets; pregnancy; thrombocytopenia.

MeSH terms

Adult
Analgesia, Epidural / methods
Australia
Blood Cell Count / statistics & numerical data*
Blood Platelets / physiology*
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Parturition
Platelet Count / methods
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Hematologic / prevention & control*
Pregnancy Trimester, Second
Reference Values
Retrospective Studies
Risk Assessment
Thrombocytopenia / diagnosis*
Unnecessary Procedures*