Quick Question about Hemophila

amlptj

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Hi, one of my main characters has Hemophilia and i did a lot of research but one question has been bugging me. My main characters get into a lot of dangerious trouble and i know that can complicate things with someone who has hemophilia, I was thinking he would get regular injections of his clotting factor VIII for hemophilia A but with regular injections can you also use on-demand injections if a serious injury accurs or just as an "In case" measure? And if so what exactly do on demand injections look like? syringe and little glass bottle?
 

GeorgeK

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Unless you target audience is a group of hemotologists, there are several different clotting deficiencies that get lumped under the term hemophilia. The classic is factor 8, but there are others, and varying degrees of severity based on degree of deficiency and the number of factors involved. A trauma patient might be given cryoprecipitate or plama which would be in plastic bags for IV infusion and they look somewhere between clear and light yellow in color depending upon what all is given. This would only happen in a hospital setting, not something the patient would carry around with them. If a particularly bloody operation is in the planning, they might transfuse the patient preemptively with the factors for which they are deficient, but given how often operations get bumped for other emergencies and then the risk of transfusion reactions, any preop transfusion would likely happen in the OR either as the person is being put to sleep or after they are opened and the surgeon says, "yes, we will be needing that."
 

K. Taylor

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We have a friend with hemophilia, and he has a liquid oral medicine he takes if he knows there's a good chance of getting bruised/cut from an activity. He kept it in our fridge while he visited. I don't know the specifics of his condition, but there you have it...
 

Shattuck

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A recombinant factor VIII is what you are looking for as far as "on demand" treatment. It is usually in the form of a white powder stored in a vial that is mixed with sterile water and then injected.

Cryoprecipitate or frozen plasma are also relatively quick treatments if the blood loss isn't extremely significant, although it wouldn't be something you can carry around with you just in case.
 

amlptj

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thanks, but if someone is on a regular few time a week treatment, can they also used the "On demand" if needed? Would anyone know if someone with only moderate hemophilia would even need regular treatment?
 

Shattuck

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As far as I am aware, the on-demand treatment can be used in conjunction with regular treatment in case of emergency. I have seen people treated with the on-demand injection without any concern for whether or not they were on any other form of treatment, so either the medical personnel in that instance were not doing their job, or it wasn't a problem. The person in question was fine afterwards, though, so I am going to assume it won't hurt them.
And yes, moderate hemophilia would most likely be treated barring some strange circumstances. Cuts and scrapes are a common enough daily occurrence to be worried about.
 

amlptj

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Thanks soooo much for the help, you have all been a life saver!