Utilization of blood and blood components in a Tertiary Care Hospital at Bogura, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Blood and blood components should be transfused cautiously due to potential risks of various transfusion reactions. It is very important for clinicians to be aware of these potential risks. Great progress had been made in the 20th century, by introducing blood component therapy. Now the term “Rational use of blood” came forward. Hence, indiscriminate use of whole blood (WB) should be avoided or minimized. The aim of our article is to demonstrate and evaluate the quantity and pattern of components used in our hospital. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at a Medical College Hospital from July 2021 to December 2021. Transfusion details were obtained from blood bank records for each patient. Data of all the used blood and components were evaluated and analyzed. Results: Among the male recipients, the majority was of the age group <10 and >50 years, whereas among females, the majority were of age 21–30 and then >50 years. The majority of used blood units were WB (76.48%) followed by red cell concentrate (22.23%) and then platelet concentrate (0.94%). Fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate were not used. The majority of WB was used in patients of trauma or fracture (17.57%), followed by pregnancy-related cases (17.23%), malignancy (10.20%), kidney diseases (7.43%), and others. Conclusion: The use of WB was the most predominant in spite of prevailing facilities for component preparation in our hospital. Our physicians should be oriented to consider and utilize the advantages of using blood components.