Incidence and Pattern of Transfusion Reactions and its Association with Blood and its Components in a Tertiary Care...

Transfusion medicine has made substantial progress in research, and blood transfusions are now safer than ever before. Still, the inherent risk of transfusion reactions (TRs) continues with transfusion of blood and blood components. The study was designed to analyze the incidence and nature of TRs reported in the blood center.

A retrospective review of all TRs reported to the blood center was retrieved from incident reporting forms from January 2020 to December 2022. All acute transfusion reactions (ATRs) were tabulated and analyzed by the blood transfusion officer and classified according to National Blood Transfusion guidelines. Data were described in terms of range, mean ± standard deviation (± SD), median (IQR), frequencies (number of cases), and relative frequencies (percentages), as appropriate.

A total of 1,65,121 blood and blood components were issued, and ATRs reported were 296 (0.18%). The median (IQR) age of the patient was 45-60, with M:F of 1.3:1. Febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reactions (FNHTR) 151 (51%) were the most common ATRs, followed by allergic TRs 111 (37.5%). The estimated risk of transfusion reaction per 1,000 units was highest with whole blood (WB) 3.84 (p = 0.038), followed by packed red blood cells (PRBCs) 2.85 (p = 0.001), and single donor platelet (SDP) 1.47 (p = 0.571). The most common symptoms observed were fever 31.8%, followed by chills 28.7%, and rashes 27.4%. FNHTR (27/151) 17.8% were reported most frequently from gastroenterology, allergic (26/111) 23.4% from emergency, and delayed hemolytic transfusion reactions (DHTR) (9/9) 100% from thalassemia day care center (p = 0.001).

The overall incidence of TRs was 0.18%. The incidence of actual TRs remains underestimated due to lack of awareness regarding TRs among healthcare professionals.