Transfusion Reactions in Paediatric Patients; Hemovigilance Data from a Tertiary Hospital

Objective: This study aimed to define transfusion-related adverse reactions (TRs) observed in paediatric patients at a university hospital in Turkey. Methods: The data from the archive of the Mersin University Hospital Blood Centre, spanning the period between August 2017 and August 2024, were subjected to retrospective analysis. The descriptive and clinical characteristics of paediatric patients who received blood transfusions and were recorded using the haemovigilance reporting system were subjected to analysis. The findings were presented in the form of descriptive statistics. Results: Over a seven-year period, 34 TRs were reported, yielding an overall incidence of 1.12‱ (95% CI: 0.79-1.55‱; 34/30,265). The reaction rate was 0.84‱ (95% CI: 0.45-1.42‱; 12/14,329) for erythrocyte concentrates, 1.11‱ (95% CI: 0.58-1.92‱; 11/9948) for fresh plasma and 2.04‱ (95% CI: 1.07-3.55‱; 11/5384) for platelet concentrates. The per patient incidence of TRs was 8.81‱ (95% CI: 6.20-12.17‱; 34/3861). A total of 35.3% of TRs were associated with erythrocyte concentrate, 32.4% with fresh plasma and 32.4% with platelet concentrate. The types of TRs were as follows: mild allergic reaction (64.7%), febrile non-haemolytic transfusion reaction (17.6%), anaphylactic reaction (5.9%), transfusion-related dyspnoea (5.9%), acute haemolytic reaction (2.9%) and acute unspecified transfusion reaction (2.9%). No errors were identified in the pre-transfusion process in any of the patients. Conclusions: Allergic and febrile non-haemolytic TRs are among the most commonly observed transfusion reactions in paediatric patients. The analysis of these reactions can be enhanced through the implementation of haemovigilance systems. The implementation of robust haemovigilance systems is crucial for the enhancement of preventive and corrective measures.