An analytical study of discarded units of whole blood and its components in a blood bank at a tertiary-care hospital in Zalawad region of Saurashtra

Abstract

Background: Many modern surgical procedures could not be carried out without the use of blood, and there is no alternative for human blood. Proper utilization and rationale use of blood are necessary in the blood bank, with minimal discarding of blood units. Objective: To find out the most common reason of discard of blood units and do the steps accordingly to bring about minimal wastage of blood. Materials and Methods: It is a study based on the analysis of discarded blood units during a period from January 2014 to September 2015 at a tertiary-care hospital blood bank in Zalawad region of Saurashtra. Result: The total number of blood units collected during the study period was 15,084, of which 618 (4.09%) units were discarded owing to various reasons. Various reasons for the discard of the blood units from the most common to the least common were seropositivity for transfusion transmitted infections (s) (n = 242, 39.14%); fail tap (n = 168, 27.18%); expiry of blood units because of nonutilization (n = 99, 16.01%); other reasons (n = 88, 14.23%), which include hemolysis, lipemic serum, and clot formation; and rupture and leakage (n = 21, 3.39%). Conclusion: The majority of the blood donors are voluntary and male subjects. Both among male and female donors, a larger proportion of the blood donors are from the younger age groups. The most common cause of discarded blood units was owing to TTIs, the majority being hepatitis B. Proper screening of blood donors, appointing expert phlebotomist, and proper transfusion management policy of issuing blood units in blood bank decrease the volume of discard, as discarded blood bags are harmful to the blood bank financially and socially.