Study of platelet changes in patients admitted in Damascus Hospital with systemic infections

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Considering the role that platelets play in the pathophysiology of sepsis and inflammation and the fact that platelet assays are very easy and simple laboratory procedures, our study was aimed at evaluating changes in platelet counts, in an attempt to show their clinical significance, so that they can be adopted as one of the criteria for evaluating disease activity and response to treatment. Methods A cross-sectional study, the study was conducted in Damascus Hospital on the records of 100 patients from different specialties, between the years 2017 to 2021, where patients over the age of 20 years who were diagnosed with systemic infections according to the septic shock criteria were included. Results The study included 100 patients, females (52%) and males (48%). The ages ranged between (20–93) years, with an average of 58 ± 18.3. The largest percentage of cases was in 2018. Most of the cases were admitted to the Internal Thoracic Division. The highest percentage of the final diagnosis was pneumonia (30%). Recovery cases reached (26%), compared to death cases (74%). The results of comparing platelet averages when the patient was admitted to the hospital and during the treatment period with average platelets at mischief or before death were statistically significant (P-value < 0.05), as the average platelet count decreased between these periods. Conclusion Platelets are one of the low-cost biomarkers, which many studies have shown to be reliable in the context of diagnosis and management of sepsis cases, therefore, based on the results of our study, we believe that it can be considered as one of the means that guide the management of sepsis, especially in light of low resources.