Transfusion therapy1.pdfVIP

CLINICAL PRACTICE Abstract Transfusion practices vary widely among neonatal intensive care units. The risks and bene?ts of transfusion as well as the disease being treated and the condition of the patient must be considered in determining whether to give blood products. Additionally, a thorough understanding of available blood components and indications for each are critical when making the decision whether to transfuse. The purpose of this review is to discuss types of blood components, blood banking techniques, and indications for and risks of transfusion. ? 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. CE-FEATURE ARTICLE: Link to , click ?Online CE Program? to access the approved and accredited continuing education questions for this featured article. Approval and accreditation are through Mosby Continuing Education and Training. Speci?c instructions and information on the number of credits available and the testing processes can be viewed on the website. Continuing Education Transfusion Therapy By Laura A. Basile, MD, MSPH, FAAP, and William M. Southgate, MD, FAAP Premature infants, especially those less than 1,500 grams, often receive multiple blood product transfusions. Approximately 300,000 infants are transfused per year.1,2 The more preterm an infant, the more likely blood transfusions will be required. Improved preterm survivability has resulted in an increase in the number of neonates requiring multiple transfusions, often from several donors. Despite this improved survival at earlier gestation and overall complexity of care, the number of transfusions per neonate and number of donors an infant is exposed to is decreasing.3 The mean number of red blood cell (RBC) transfusions per infant in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has been decreasing with an estimated 8 to 10 per infant during the 1970s to 1980s and 1.7 to 5 per infant in the early 1990s.3-8 An even further decrease is seen with increasing gestational age. Hume and Bard8 found a signi?cant decrease