Perioperative transfusion-related acute lung injury: a retrospective analysis

Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is the leading morbidity and mortality in hemotherapy in the United States. Although it is a serious complication of blood transfusion, it is still underestimated and under-reported because of under-recognition and misdiagnosis. In this report, we present 15 surgical patients who developed pulmonary complications secondary to blood transfusion during the perioperative period.

A 3-year retrospective analysis of 14,441 patients who received blood transfusion intraoperatively in our Taoyuan center was carried out. 15 patients suspected to be subject to TRALI perioperatively were sorted out for analysis of their clinical characteristics.

All of the 15 patients received inhalational general anesthesia, of whom 10 were anesthetized with sevoflurane, four with desflurane, and one with isoflurane. One patient died on the first postoperative day due to multiorgan failure whereas 14 others who were managed with oxygen therapy or mechanical ventilation recovered uneventfully within 72 hours.

TRALI must be recognized as one of the leading causes of mortality related to blood transfusion. Oxygen support is often sufficient in mild TRALI while ventilatory support is required in severe TRALI. The strategy to minimize such a risk using blood products from male donors or from female donors without history of pregnancy or having a negative leukocyte antibody screening can help reduce severe immune mediated TRALI.