Reducing donor exposure in preterm infants requiring multiple blood transfusions.

Abstract

Preterm infants frequently require multiple blood transfusions. Traditionally, 'fresh' (less than seven days old) blood has been used but this often results in transfusions from multiple donors. To reduce donor exposure the policy for top-up transfusions was changed.

Low degree of regionalization and high transfusion rates in very low birthweight infants: A survey in Germany

“…Whereas the majority (73 %) of departments in North America in 1989 stored red cell packs less than 7 days [9], usual storage time in our survey was 14 days. Recent studies indicate that blood packs can safely be stored up to 5 weeks [11,20,23].…”

Single blood donor exposure programme for preterm infants: a large open study and an analysis of the risk factors to multiple donor exposure

“…The ecacy of a single blood donor exposure programme for very preterm infants has been already established within small populations [6,23]. A much larger population was studied here with the purpose to identify risk factors for an extended transfusion requirement.…”

“…Moreover, the blood banking centres are encountering increasing diculties for recruiting new and regular donors. Beside minimizing iatrogenic blood losses [11,18], dierent strategies have been explored for very preterm infants who require repeated transfusions with small volumes of blood: use of autologous placental blood [2,14], autotransfusion before umbilical cord clamping [5], administration of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO) [9,10,16], and single donor exposure programmes [6,23]. This latter strategy which minimizes blood wastage and reduces the exposure to multiple donors appears very promising.…”

Transfusion of Neonates and Pediatric Patients

“…42 A comparison of CPDA with three types of extended-storage media is presented in Table 37-3. [43][44][45][46] The small-volume nature of these transfusions cannot be overemphasized. Importantly, the efficacy and safety of these theoretical calculations have been confirmed by clinical experience.…”