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Updated: Aug 4, 2026

Continuous Manual Exchange Transfusion for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: An Efficient Method to Avoid Iron Overload
Published on: March 14, 2017
A retrospective observational study to assess adverse transfusion reactions of patients with and without prior
1Department of Transfusion Medicine, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Japan.
Background And Objectives:
This study compares the frequency of adverse transfusion reactions (ATRs) after first transfusions with the frequency of ATRs for subsequent (non-first) transfusions.
Materials And Methods:
Five hospitals agreed to systematically collect and share 2 years of data. This was a retrospective observational analysis of data including the number of transfusion episodes and ATRs for red blood cells (RBCs), fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and platelet concentrates (PCs) given to first-time transfusion recipients and to those previously transfused.
Results:
First transfusion ATRs to RBCs, FFP and PCs were 1.08%, 2.84% and 3.34%, respectively. These are higher than ATR incidences to RBCs (0.69%), FFP (1.91%) and PCs (2.75%) on subsequent transfusions. Specifically, first transfusion incidences of febrile non-haemolytic transfusion reactions (FNHTRs) to RBCs (0.43%) and allergic reactions to FFP (2.51%) were higher than on subsequent transfusions (RBCs: 0.23%, FFP: 1.65%).
Conclusion:
There are risks of ATRs on the first transfusion as well as transfusions of patients with transfusion history.
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