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The High Rate of Blood Donor Exposure for Critically III Neonates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Leigh G. Donowitz ,
Ronald B. Turner ,
Mary Ann M. Searcy ,
Naomi L.C. Luban  and
J. Owen Hendley
Leigh G. Donowitz*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Virginia
Ronald B. Turner
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Mary Ann M. Searcy
Affiliation:
Division of Hospital Epidemiology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Virginia
Naomi L.C. Luban
Affiliation:
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children', Hospital Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
J. Owen Hendley
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Virginia
*
Department of Pediatrics, Box 386, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA 22908
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the number and volume of red blood cell (RBC) transfusions and the number of donors a newborn is exposed to during his or her newborn intensive care unit (NICU) stay. On one day at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and two days at the University of Virginia Hospital (UVH) all babies who had or were receiving RBCs comprised the study group. Patient records were reviewed at discharge. Fifty-two (70%) of the 75 NICU babies had or were receiving RBCs and were enrolled. The average number of RBC transfusions was nine (range 1 to 28, median 7) and the average transfusion volume was 16.5 ml (range 5 to 60) for a total volume of 148 ml transfused during a NICU stay. Each baby was exposed to an average of 6.9 donors (range 1 to 25, median 6.5). The practice of splitting RBC packs to share among different infants and of giving multiple small volume transfusions maximizes donor exposure and transfusion-related infectious risks in this population.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 10 , Issue 11 , November 1989 , pp. 509 - 510
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1989

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References

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