Blood transfusion in pediatric critical care setting: report of a survey

With the increased awareness regarding transfusion- related complications, blood transfusion therapy has become an issue of increasing concern. In this survey, the rate of blood transfusion was evaluated among children between the ages of 1 month to 14 years who were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of the Children's Medical Center. Children with chronic diseases and malignancy were excluded. Among 262 patients who were eligible to participate in this study, 116 (44.3%) had history of blood transfusion during PICU admission. Most of them were infants under the age of one year (56.1%). The rate of blood transfusion, volume of blood sampling, oxygenation, need for mechanical ventilation, and the mortality rate were compared between the children who had received blood transfusion with the group without blood transfusion. The differences between these two groups (with and without blood transfusion) with regard to oxygen saturation or assisted ventilation did not show significant differences, but the mean volume of blood sampling and length of PICU stay were significantly different (p<0.0001). Blood transfusion did not cause any changes in the mortality rate)9 patients with blood transfusion died in comparison to 5 patients in the other group). Although anemia is very common in the critical care setting, it seems that blood transfusion has no significant effect in improving oxygenation, or mortality rate.