Supportive care is treatment to manage symptoms and help patients live with a disease. Supportive care does not cure the disease. Supportive care treatments for boys with bleeding problems (thrombocytopenia) may include:
Platelet and/or red blood cell transfusions.
Intravenous immune globulin (IVIG).
A type of medicine called corticosteroids.
Removing the spleen (splenectomy). A splenectomy may lead to an increase in the number of platelets, but it also increases the risk for serious blood infections (sepsis). To prevent sepsis, boys who have had a splenectomy may need treatment with antibiotics any time they get a fever.
Treatments to protect boys with WAS from infection may include:
Watching closely for infections and treating them quickly.
Treatment with antibiotics and/or IVIG to prevent infections before they occur.