Comparative evaluation of thrombocytopenia in adult patients receiving linezolid or glycopeptides in a respiratory intensive care unit

Linezolid is an oxazolidinone antibiotic agent, active against gram-positive bacteria that are resistant to traditional antibiotics, including glycopeptides. Linezolid is generally well tolerated, but has been associated with hematologic adverse effects such as thrombocytopenia. The primary objective of this study was to compare the incidence of thrombocytopenia between patients receiving linezolid or glycopeptides in different age groups. The secondary objective was to assess the association between the time-to-event and occurrence of thrombocytopenia. This retrospective study reviewed the medical records of patients who were treated with linezolid or glycopeptides (vancomycin or teicoplanin) between January 2010 and June 2013 in a respiratory intensive care unit. Data were extracted from the patients’ electronic medical records, which were obtained from a central database in the hospital, and multivariate analyses were performed. In total, the study included 225 patients who received linezolid or glycopeptides. The cumulative probability of thrombocytopenia was higher in the patients receiving linezolid than in those receiving glycopeptides (P<0.05), however the cumulative probability of thrombocytopenia did not differ significantly between patients receiving linezolid or glycopeptides in the subgroup whose age was <65 years (P>0.05). With a treatment duration of ≥7 days, the incidence of thrombocytopenia and the mean platelet count reduction in the patients receiving linezolid was significantly higher than in those receiving glycopeptides (P<0.05). No significant difference was identified in the mean platelet counts between the patients receiving linezolid and those receiving glycopeptides. In conclusion, it was identified that patients in a respiratory intensive care unit, aged ≥65 years or with a treatment duration of ≥7 days who were treated with linezolid were more likely to develop thrombocytopenia than patients of the same subgroup who were treated with glycopeptides.