Comprehensive review of platelet storage methods for use in the treatment of active hemorrhage

Elissa M Milford, Michael C Reade

This review considers the various methods currently in use, or under investigation, for the storage of platelets intended for use in the treatment of active hemorrhage. The current standard practice of storing platelets at room temperature (RT) (20°C-24°C) optimizes circulating time, but at the expense of hemostatic function and logistical considerations. A number of alternatives are under investigation. Novel storage media additives appear to attenuate the deleterious changes that affect RT stored platelets. Cold storage was originally abandoned due to the poor circulating time of platelets stored at 4°C, but such platelets may actually be more hemostatically effective, with a number of other advantages, compared to RT stored platelets. Periodically re-warming cold stored platelets (temperature cycling, TC) may combine the hemostatic efficacy of cold stored platelets with the longer circulating times of RT storage. Alternatives to liquid storage include cryopreservation (freezing) or lyophilization (freeze-drying). The former has had some limited clinical use and larger clinical trials are underway, while the latter is still in the preclinical stage with promising in vitro and in vivo results. The importance of platelet transfusion in the management of active hemorrhage is now well accepted, so it is timely that platelet storage methods are reviewed with consideration of not only their circulating time, but also their hemostatic efficacy.