Blood transfusion reactions in children: associated factors

To analyze the profile of blood transfusion reactions in children and to identify the involved factors.

This was a cross-sectional study in a tertiary pediatric teaching hospital from the public healthcare system, involving all children admitted from January to July of 2011 (5,437), of which 1,226 received blood transfusions, constituting the sample. A documental study was performed by analyzing files from the hemovigilance service and notification forms of transfusion reactions. The variables investigated were: number and type of blood components transfused, transfusion site, reaction site, age, gender, type of blood components involved, type of incident, and previous history of multiple transfusions. A descriptive and inferential analysis was performed, using statistical tests to establish the association between the variables.

There were 57 transfusion incidents involving 47 children and 72 different blood products, thus constituting a prevalence of reactions of 3.8%. At the inferential analysis, the chi-squared test showed that the following variables were significantly associated (p<0.05) with the type of reaction: age range and type of blood component. Similarly, the patient's underlying disease was associated with previous history of transfusion incident and type of blood component.

The prevalence of transfusion reactions in children is high, and the intervening factors are: type of blood component, age, patient comorbidity, and multiple transfusions; type of blood component and age are also associated with type of reaction.