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A study to reveal the rationales of overnight transfusion in a training and research hospital
Soner Yilmaz1, Ferdağ Bölükbaş2, Zahide Sezer2
1Professor (Medical Microbiology), University of Health Sciences Gulhane Training & Research Hospital, Department of Medical Microbiology, Ankara, Turkey.
Background:
Monitoring of overnight transfusions would be beneficial to improve blood transfusion safety. The objective of this study was to prospectively evaluate the practice and need for overnight transfusions (OT) in a teaching and research hospital.
Methods:
The study was conducted on data from patients who received packed red blood cells (PRBCs) transfusions between 11 September and 13 October 2023 at a Training and Research Hospital in Ankara, Turkey. Clinical data of patients were obtained from the Hospital Database Management System (HDBS) and blood transfusion order forms. The critical time point of the transfusion process was recorded using HDBS.
Results:
A total of 1502 PRBCs transfusions were noted during the study period, of which 400 (26.6%) were OT. OT was most frequently administered to patients with symptomatic anemia (34.6%; 138/400) and patients with an Hb level <7 (27.7%; 111/400). The time interval in which OT was most frequently ordered was between 15:00 and 17:00 [20.2% (81/400)], while the most frequent time to start transfusion was between 17:00 and 19:00 [22% (88/400)]. The average time taken from ordering OT to starting OT was 3 hours 41 minutes. The most of patients (36.8%; 91/248) were discharged after 48 hours of transfusion or were still in the hospital for more than 48 hours (20.3%; 50/248).
Conclusion:
To ensure transfusion safety by reducing OT to a minimum, OT should be used only in emergencies, policies should be put in place to make sure that transfusions can be done during the day easily, and healthcare professionals should be made aware of this issue.
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