Complications of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in pediatric patients: An experience at a tertiary care hospital

  • Dr Tooba Fateen Associate Professor Pathology, Allama Iqbal Medical College lahore
  • Dr Nighat Sultana
  • Dr Muhammad Sarwar
  • Dr Nazish Saqlain
Keywords: TPE, plasmapharesis, plasma exchange, GBS, neuropathy, pediatric neurology, Hematology, Neurological disorders, PICU, Therapeutic plasma exchange

Abstract

Objective: To find the incidence of various complications of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in ICU admitted children and to determine their association with age, gender, blood group and diagnosis of the patients.

Methods: In this observational study, data of 24 patients who underwent 125 sessions of TPE was collected from the Pediatric Intensive care unit (PICU) and Hematology department of The Children’s Hospital, Lahore from December 2020 to November 2021. Age, gender, blood group, indications and complications observed during and after the TPE procedure were documented on a pre-designed proforma. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 23. Quantitative variables were presented in the form of mean and standard deviation. Qualitative variables like gender, blood groups, indications and complications of plasmapheresis were presented as frequency and percentage. Chi square test was applied for comparison of variables.

Results: Among the 24 patients, 45.8% were of age group five to ten years with mean age of 7.58 years± 2.04 years and male to female ratio of 0.84:1. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and Neuromyelitis Optica spectrum disorder (NMO-SD) were the most prevalent among the patients who underwent TPE. Most common complication was hypotension (44.9%), others were febrile reactions (11.6%), unstable vital signs (14.5%) and allergic reactions (24.6%). Blood group, clinical condition and diagnosis of the patient showed significant association with the incidence of TPE related complications.

Conclusion: The majority of problems caused by TPE are considered to be minor. Sudden fall in blood pressure, pruritus, urticarial rash and fever are the common adverse consequences among pediatric patients. Blood group and diagnosis of the patient can determine the development of such complications during plasmapheresis procedure.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.4.7002

How to cite this: Fateen T, Sultana N, Sarwar M, Saqlain N. Complications of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in pediatric patients: An experience at a tertiary care hospital. Pak J Med Sci. 2023;39(4):994-998. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.4.7002

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Author Biographies

Dr Nighat Sultana

 

Assistant professor

Paediatric Intensive care

University of Child Health sciences, The Children hospital, Lahore.

nighat_99@yahoo.com

Dr Muhammad Sarwar

 

Assistant professor

Paediatric Intensive care

University of Child Health sciences, The Children hospital, Lahore.

sarwardr2003@gmail.com

Dr Nazish Saqlain

Dr Nazish Saqlain

Associate Professor Pathology

University of Child Health sciences, The Children hospital, Lahore.

nazish68@yahoo.com

Published
2023-06-13
How to Cite
Dr Tooba Fateen, Dr Nighat Sultana, Dr Muhammad Sarwar, & Dr Nazish Saqlain. (2023). Complications of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in pediatric patients: An experience at a tertiary care hospital. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.4.7002
Section
Original Articles