Acute Transfusion Reactions in a Tertiary Care Hospital: The Saudi Context

Abstract

Although blood transfusion is a life-saving procedure, it can be associated with complications in rare cases. An acute transfusion reaction (ATR) is a complication where recipients exhibit an adverse reaction within 24 hours of a blood transfusion. This study aimed to determine the incidence of ATRs. This retrospective study reviewed the ATRs for all patients who received blood products over three years (2018, 2019, 2020). Of 81,498 transfusion episodes investigated, 132 (0.16%) were associated with ATRs. The most frequent adverse reactions were allergic reactions (62.9%, n = 83), followed by febrile non-haemolytic transfusion reactions (FNHTR) (32.6%, n = 43). Among blood products, it was found that allergic reactions were associated with platelet transfusions (40.9%, n = 34) and FNHTR with packed red blood cell transfusions (79.0%, n = 34). Serious complications such as acute haemolytic transfusion reaction and transfusion-related lung injury were not reported. The low percentage of recorded ATRs may indicate an underestimation of the true incidence due to under-reporting. Accurate reporting of ATRs is a crucial element of the haemovigilance system and would improve blood transfusion safety and enhance patient management. KEYWORDS FNHTR; allergic reactions; TACO; haemovigilance; urticarial rash