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Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staff
Some people with a low platelet count have no symptoms. When signs and symptoms do occur, they may include:
- Easy or excessive bruising (purpura) — your skin naturally bruises and bleeds more easily as you age, but this shouldn't be confused with ITP
- Superficial bleeding into your skin that appears as a rash of pinpoint-sized reddish-purple spots (petechiae), usually on your lower legs
- Prolonged bleeding from cuts
- Spontaneous bleeding from your gums or nose
- Blood in urine or stools
- Unusually heavy menstrual flows
- Profuse bleeding during surgery
When to see a doctor
If you or your child has abnormal bleeding or bruising, or develops a rash of pinpoint-sized red spots, see your doctor. It's also important to seek medical advice if you're a woman and suddenly develop increased menstrual bleeding.
Serious or widespread bleeding indicates an emergency and requires immediate care.
- ITP: Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. American Academy of Family Physicians. http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/blood/113.html. Accessed July 31, 2008.
- What is idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Itp/ITP_WhatIs.html. Accessed July 31, 2008.
- George JN. Treatment and prognosis of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 31, 2008.
- Rodeghiero F. Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: An old disease revisited in the era of evidence-based medicine. Haematologica. 2003; 88(10):1081-1087.
- Stasi R, et al. Management of immune thrombocytopenic purpura in adults. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2004;79(4):504-522. http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/pdf%2F7904%2F7904r.pdf.
- Bussel JB, et al. Eltrombopag for the treatment of chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357(22):2237-2247. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/357/22/2237. Accessed July 31, 2008.
- Rodeghiero F. First-line therapies for immune thrombocytopenic purpura: Re-evaluating the need to treat. European Journal of Haematology. 2008; 80(69)(suppl):19-26.
- Newland A. Emerging strategies to treat chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura. European Journal of Haematology. 2008;80(69)(suppl):27-33.
