Background and aims: Plasmapheresis therapy is used for a wide range of neurological diseases. Plasmapheresis treatment has complications such as hematoma, pneumothorax, hypocalcemia, bleeding, arrhythmia, hypotension, fever, infection, edema, limb anesthesia, metabolic alkalosis, thrombosis and thrombocytopenia. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of common complications of therapeutic plasmapheresis in patients admitted to the neurology ward of Shahid Faghihi and Namazi Hospitals.
Methods: In this study, the clinical records of all patients admitted to the neurology ward of Shahid Faghihi and Namazi hospitals from the beginning of September 2016 to the end of August 2017 who underwent plasmapheresis treatment were reviewed and the required clinical information was entered into a checklist and then entered into SPSS software. And statistical analysis was performed.
Results: In this study, a total of 287 plasmapheresis sessions were performed for 67 patients diagnosed with neurological disease. There was no significant relationship between the incidence of complications of therapeutic plasmapheresis with the patient's gender, patient age, marital status, patient education, patient occupation, history of underlying disease and history of smoking. Based on the findings of this study, there was no significant relationship between the incidence of complications of therapeutic plasmapheresis with the duration of the disease, duration of hospitalization, type and location of catheter, number of plasmapheresis sessions and type of fluid replaced in plasmapheresis. The most common complications of therapeutic plasmapheresis in this study were thrombocytopenia and catheter-related complications. The most important life-threatening complications of plasmapheresis included catheter infection and thrombosis.
Conclusion: IN general, the results of the present study showed that out of a total of 67 male patients in the two centers under study, the prevalence of complications due to plasmapheresis therapy was 82.08% and the most important of them were thrombocytopenia and catheter-related complications. Identifying the complications of therapeutic plasmapheresis can lead to better treatment and better control of the complications of this treatment.