Rifampicin is an essential component of the treatment regimen
for tuberculosis. Extensive clinical experience has shown that the
drug is well tolerated, but on rare occasions it can cause life threatening
adverse reactions like acute renal failure and thrombocytopenia. At
the Tuberculosis Research Centre, we have treated more than 8000
patients with pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis with
rifampicin-containing regimens over the past 30 years and we are
reporting a case of acute thrombocytopenia probably rifampicin
induced, in a patient who was retreated for tuberculosis. The physician
treating tuberculosis patients must be aware of this rare life threatening
complication, which if detected early, is completely reversible