Frequent Use of Fresh Frozen Plasma Is a Risk Factor for Venous Thrombosis in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants: A Matched Case-control Study

Percutaneously inserted central catheters (PICCs) are often used in neonatal medicine. Venous thrombosis (VT) is one of the complications associated with PICC use. According to some reports, fresh frozen plasma (FFP) may be a risk factor for VT. The purpose of this study was to determine whether FFP use is associated with VT in extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWIs). We performed a matched case-control study on risk factors for VT in ELBWIs born over a period of 5 years in the neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital. Controls were infants from the unit matched for gestational age and birth weight. We performed univariate analyses and created receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the cut-off values of continuous parameters such as FFP. We also conducted multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis and calculated adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. Thirteen VT cases and 34 matched controls were examined. Using an ROC curve, FFP by day 5＞50mL/kg was selected as the cut-off value. In multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis, FFP by day 5＞50mL/kg exhibited an adjusted odds ratio of 5.88 (95% confidence interval:1.12-41.81, p＝0.036). FFP by day 5＞50mL/kg may be a risk factor for VT in ELBWIs.