Blood product transfusion practices in pediatric critically ill patients at a tertiary care hospital, Pakistan

Transfusion practices in critical care pediatrics.

  • Muhammad Rafique Dow University of Health Sciences
  • Sharmeen Nasir Dow University Of Health Sciences
  • Amber Kamran Dow University of Health Sciences
  • Ammarah Jamal Dow University of Health Sciences
Keywords: Blood transfusions, Plasma, Platelets, Packed red cell, Critical Care

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of inappropriate blood product transfusions in pediatric critically ill patients.

Methods: We collected data for this descriptive study from January to December 2020 at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of Dr. RKMP Civil Hospital, Karachi. We included all patients one month to 12 years of age, admitted to pediatric intensive care unit and received any blood product transfusion. We reviewed their medical records and noted the demographic and clinical variables, type of blood product transfused with its indication and determined whether transfusion was appropriate or not, as per the standard guidelines and consensus recommendations.

Results: Number of patients who were transfused was n=39, out of which females were 51.3%. Mean age of the patients was 49.0 months ±50.9 months. Total number of transfusions done were n=135, with most common blood product transfused being Fresh Frozen plasma (FFP) in 44.4%. A total of n=117 (86.66%) transfusion were appropriate as per the standard guidelines, while 18 (13.33%) were inappropriate (P-value <0.5). The most common indication of FFP transfusion was INR>2.0 in 51.6%, for Packed red cell transfusion was hemoglobin between 5 and 7 gm/dl in 35.5% and for Platelets was <20,000 with risk of bleeding in 36.6%.

Conclusion: This study highlights the occurrence of inappropriate transfusions in critically ill pediatric patients. We need to reinforce the knowledge of our health care workers and display the guidelines in intensive care units.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.4.7503

How to cite this: Rafique M, Nasir S, Kamran A, Jamal A. Blood product transfusion practices in pediatric critically ill patients at a tertiary care hospital, Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci. 2023;39(4):999-1002. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.4.7503

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published
2023-06-13
How to Cite
Muhammad Rafique, Sharmeen Nasir, Amber Kamran, & Jamal, A. (2023). Blood product transfusion practices in pediatric critically ill patients at a tertiary care hospital, Pakistan: Transfusion practices in critical care pediatrics. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.4.7503
Section
Original Articles