Glanzmann thrombasthenia and its perioperative management in head trauma: A rare and challenging situation

Glanzmann thrombasthenia is a rare inherited coagulation disorder, manifesting itself in early childhood as bleeding episodes. The patients with this disease may present with uncontrollable bleeding following trauma. We report a patient of Glanzmann syndrome with head injury, who presented to us following fall from stairs. Platelet transfusion is the mainstay of treatment in emergency situations. As patients generally have a history of platelet transfusion they may be refractory to the same. Leuko reduced or human leukocyte antigen matched platelets should be used. Recombinant factor VIIa can be used to control bleeding in refractory cases and in patients with antibodies against platelets. Anti-fibrinolytics can also be used as adjuvants. There is need of advanced perioperative coagulation screening spot tests in emergency trauma settings as routine coagulation tests may not be able to pick up the abnormality. Thromboelastography/thromboelastometry can be a great tool for perioperative management of such coagulation disorders.