The hematological changes in severe burn patients hospitalizing in Tehran burn centers

Abstract Background: The hematological changes in burn patients can at times manifest as severe complications. Objective: Investigating the hematological changes in hospitalized severe burn patients. Methods: In this descriptive study, 120 patients with severe burn were chosen by convenience sampling from 3 burn centers: Towhid, Shahid Motahary and 15th Khordad hospitals during the period of 2002 - 2003. The cases were surveyed during first, third and seventh days following burn injury. A single specialist evaluated the complete blood count (CBC) profiles at 3 time intervals. Findings: WBC was increased on the first post-burn day however, it was decreased on the 3rd and 7th post-burn days, although within normal limits. RBC, hemoglobin and hematocrit were gradually reduced during the mentioned time intervals. Platelet counts were changed drastically, as on the 3rd post-burn day the presence of thrombocytopenia was evident while on the 7th day the count was increased. The correlation between WBC and band cells on the first and 7th post-burn days were significant (P=0.001), while it was insignificant on the 3d day (P>0.001). Conclusion: Since following the severe burns the occurrence of a noticeable change in platelet counts was considerable, the evaluation of MPV for differential diagnosis of thrombocytopenia is recommended.