Trombocitopenia inducida por heparina y sus alternativas de diagnóstico

BACKGROUND: Heparin induced thrombocytopenia is an iatrogenic reaction mediated by the immune system that occurs in patients exposed to this anticoagulant. In general, the risk of developing it is of 0.2% in patients exposed to heparin; however, it can reach up to 2-5% in patients with greater exposure to risk factors. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a review of the literature on the most important concepts of heparin induced thrombocytopenia. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A review of the literature was carried out through the search of original articles, systematic and narrative reviews, in the PubMed and ScienceDirect databases and in the Google Scholar search engine. RESULTS: From 52 selected articles it was made a description of the present text in aspects related to heparin induced thrombocytopenia, such as physiopathology, clinical manifestations, with special emphasis on diagnostic methods. CONCLUSION: Despite of the fact that there are numerous scales that suggest the risk of presenting heparin induced thrombocytopenia, it is essential for the clinician to start with a quick and cost-effective study that does not delay the management of this disease for any reason.