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ABSTRACT: Background
Blood banks split an adult packed red cell bag (usually 250 ml) into 30 ml bags, making a total of eight neonatal "satellite" packs per donor. These packs are then "allocated"/"committed" to be used to serially transfuse a newborn.Aim
To study transfusion requirements of premature infants in relation to their birth weight and thereby attempt to rationalise the method of dispensing satellite blood packs.Method
Data on the distribution of neonatal transfusions with respect to weight were obtained retrospectively from unit A (51 infants, 168 transfusions) and unit B (46 infants, 151 transfusions). These data were used to model the effect of different policies on donor exposure and number of unused packs.Results
Infants weighing less than 1000 g at birth have significantly higher transfusion requirements than those weighing 1000 g or more (p = 0.001 (unit A), p = 0.004 (unit B)). Our model predicted a significant reduction in donor exposure if eight packs/infant were allocated to those weighing < 1000 g, and a significant cut in the number of unused packs if four satellite packs/infant were allocated to those weighing > or = 1000 g.Conclusions
It would be safer and cost effective to allocate eight packs/infant to those with birth weights < 1000 g and four packs/infant to those with birth weights > or = 1000 g.
SUBMITTER: Gupta A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1756049 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition 20040301 2
<h4>Background</h4>Blood banks split an adult packed red cell bag (usually 250 ml) into 30 ml bags, making a total of eight neonatal "satellite" packs per donor. These packs are then "allocated"/"committed" to be used to serially transfuse a newborn.<h4>Aim</h4>To study transfusion requirements of premature infants in relation to their birth weight and thereby attempt to rationalise the method of dispensing satellite blood packs.<h4>Method</h4>Data on the distribution of neonatal transfusions wi ...[more]