When your child lives with a bleeding or clotting disorder, you want to
work with expert healthcare professionals to get complete, personalized
care that addresses all aspects of your child’s life and the specific
issues related to this challenging health condition.
Nationally Recognized Care for Bleeding & Clotting Disorders
Look no further than Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma’s only comprehensive center for bleeding and clotting
disorders in children and adults.
Recognized by the National Hemophilia Foundation as one of approximately
140 federally funded hemophilia treatment centers in the United States,
our program receives support from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and Maternal Child Health for its extensive array of services.
Signs of Bleeding Disorders in Children
An inherited condition and the most common type of bleeding disorder in
children, hemophilia causes excessive bleeding because blood doesn’t
contain the necessary clotting factors. As a result, an injury or accident
may create heavy, uncontrollable or life-threatening bleeding. Other signs
of a bleeding or clotting disorder include:
Bleeding or bruising easily – Frequent nosebleeds, bleeding when brushing teeth, bruising with
minimal activity or touch
Blood in urine or stool
Bleeding into joints (hemarthrosis) – Causes pain, immobility or deformity if not treated quickly; may
lead to chronic arthritis
Bleeding into muscles – Swelling, redness and pain from increased pressure on nerves and tissues
Bleeding in the brain – May create serious complications such as blindness, intellectual
disability or neurological problems
Types of Hemophilia
Your child may experience one of three types of
hemophilia. Each involves the lack of a necessary clotting factor in the blood.
Hemophilia A – Classic hemophilia; blood lacks clotting factor VIII
Hemophilia B – Christmas disease; clotting factor IX deficiency
Diagnosing Bleeding & Clotting Disorders in Children
Depending on the nature of your child’s bleeding disorder, a diagnosis
may not occur unless they experience a heavy-bleeding event such as surgery
or accident. At that point, your doctor may use any of several diagnostic
methods and tests, including:
Complete blood count (CBC) – Blood analysis to determine levels of red blood cells, hematocrit,
hemoglobin, white blood cells, platelets (blood clotting cells)
Clotting factors – Elements that help blood form clots to stop bleeding
Coagulation factor deficiency screening tests
Platelet function assessments
Genetic or DNA testing – Review of family history related to bleeding or clotting disorders
Treatments for Bleeding Disorders in Children
When you partner with Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health to treat
your child’s bleeding or clotting disorder, you work with a multidisciplinary
team of specialists who focus on developing the best health outcomes for
your child’s specific situation.
Treating Hemophilia in Children
If your child lives with hemophilia, you’ll find a wide range of
treatment methods through our program. Depending on your child’s
age, symptoms, severity and type of bleeding disorder, you and your child’s
doctor may take advantage of options such as:
Surgery or immobilization – Helps reduce bleeding into joints or into the brain; may require
follow-up rehabilitation, including physical therapy and exercise
Ultrasonography – Assesses joint bleeding and joint status
Transfusion – Replaces lost amounts of blood
Factor replacement therapy – Ongoing care, often home-based, to improve quality of life
Advanced non-factor therapies for hemophilia and other blood disorders
Clinical trials – Early access to the latest therapies for bleeding and clotting
disorders for qualified participants
Factor at Home Replacement Therapy for Bleeding Disorders
Home-based clotting-factor replacement therapy may allow you to participate
in your child’s treatment in a comfortable, familiar setting. The
Factor at Home program through Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health
helps children and adults avoid serious complications from uncontrolled
bleeding. When you or your loved ones use
Factor at Home, you also may decrease pain, dysfunction and long-term disability that
can result from complications of hemophilia.
Treatment for Clotting Disorders in Children
Less common in children than in adults, other blood-related disorders may
increase the likelihood of excessive blood clots. For the condition known
as thrombophilia, diagnosis often follows a family history of clotting
disorders or a thrombotic event such as:
For thrombophilia, your child may need to take blood-thinning medications,
especially around the time of major surgery, when they need extra help
to control excessive clotting created by this condition. Through Oklahoma
Children’s Hospital OU Health, you’ll work with a multidisciplinary
team of healthcare professionals for a whole-person approach to effectively
address thrombophilia and increase your child’s quality of life
now and as they grow up.
The Hemophilia Treatment Center Difference
Treatment of bleeding and clotting disorders at Oklahoma Children’s
Hospital OU Health gives you access to the latest medical care, as well
as innovative options from extensive research funded by the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), Phase I clinical trials conducted in our Oklahoma City
facilities and a wide array of cooperative group studies through the American
Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network (ATHN).
In addition, your child benefits from our participation in the national
network of Hemophilia Treatment Centers, where experts deliver comprehensive
treatment for blood-related diseases and disorders. Treatment at a center
like ours significantly improves quality of life by lowering complications,
providing cost-effective long-term care with 40 percent fewer hospitalizations,
and allowing a more independent and productive way of living.
Your Expert Pediatric Bleeding & Clotting Disorders Care Team
At each visit to our team at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health,
your physicians and nurses talk thoroughly with you and your family about
every aspect of life affected by these challenging health conditions.
Your highly trained and extensively experienced multidisciplinary team
members may include board-certified hematologist-oncologists, certified
hemophilia and thrombophilia physician assistants (PAs) advanced practice
providers with expertise in bleeding and clotting disorders, pediatric
nurse practitioners (PNP), nurse coordinators, and PhD and Master’s
level clinical psychologists and social workers, as well as physical therapists,
clinical research staff and a variety of expert healthcare professionals
to consult on your care.
5 out of 5
