Question about use of Heparin and platelet count

Sour Lemon · May 30, 2018

What do platelets do?

pjmiller · May 30, 2018

Platelets are tiny blood cells that help your body form clots to stop bleeding. If one of your blood vessels gets damaged, it sends out signals that are picked up by platelets. The platelets then rush to the site of damage and form a plug, or clot, to repair the damage.

So, if your platelett levels were low you would add plateletts, for example thay are 50,000 you would add plateletts to bring them up to acceptable level.

If they were high, for example 550,000 you would add heparin for clotting factors?

dudette10, MSN, RN · May 30, 2018

Are you talking about holding heparin for possible HIT? There is a way to determine via labs and clinical signs and symptoms if HIT is a possibility. I would have to look it up--it's something like a 50% drop in platelet count X number of days after starting heparin.

At any rate, you can hold heparin for a short period of time and call the provider with your concerns. But, no, you don't hold it as an independent nursing action--you can hold and CALL, but don't just hold.

Triddin · May 30, 2018

It really depends on the patient and the doctor. Is their norm to have a low platelet count? Was their platelets low with admission or have they steadily been dropping

I think it's good practice to hold if they have been steadily dropping, but I would put some scds on of the patient is bed bound until I've has a chance to alert the physician. At that point, I would also check the skin for bruising/ red spots.