Pattern of Blood Transfusion in the Special Care Baby Unit of Benue State University Teaching Hospital in Makurdi North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

Blood transfusion is a life-saving procedure in which whole blood or parts of blood are introduced into a patient's bloodstream intravenously. The need maybe due to physiological or pathological causes. The objective of this study was to document the pattern and indications for blood transfusion at the Special Care Baby Unit of the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), Makurdi. This study was a retrospective review of 126 neonates who received blood transfusion at the Special care baby unit of BSUTH from 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2019. Data was retrieved from patient's medical records and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23. A total of 1142 neonates were admitted over the study period and 126 had blood transfusion giving a prevalence of 11.0%. Male/Female ratio of 1.57:1.Mean (±SD) Birth weight and gestational age (GA) were 2.23±0.82Kg and 35.48 ±3.95 weeks respectively. Exchange blood transfusion was the most frequent 53(42.1%) type of blood transfusion. The most common indications for blood transfusion were anaemia of prematurity, sepsis and severe neonatal jaundice. A hundred and twelve (88.9%) who received transfusion were discharged while 4(3.2%) died. The rate of blood transfusion was low, while severe neonatal jaundice and anaemia were the main indications for blood transfusion in this study. Exchange blood transfusion was the main type of transfusion.