Potential harms of blood transfusion in preterm infants
- Introduction...
- 1. Blood and blood...
- 2. Potential harms...
- 3. Severe side eff...
- 4. Why reduce unne...
Introduction
DR. GEETA GATHWALA
MD, DM (Neonatology)
Professor and Head
Department of Pediatrics
PGI, Rohtak
1. Blood and blood component transfusions in SNCU
► Blood transfusion is an important component of SNCU care
► Preterm infants in the SNCU receive frequent transfusions
due to diverse reasons
► Blood transfusions have potential harms especially, in
preterm infants
► Often, these blood transfusions can be avoided by adopting
standard guidelines
2. Potential harms of blood and blood component transfusion
► Mismatched transfusion
► Transfusion transmitted infections e.g. HIV, HBV, HCV, CMV
► Procedure related infection risk
► Hyperkalemia (increased potassium)
► Volume overload
► Transfusion related acute lung injury
3. Severe side effects that are unique to preterm neonates
► Increased mortality
► Oxygen free radical injury
► Intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH)
► Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
► Chronic lung disease (CLD)
4. Why reduce unnecessary transfusions?
► Reduction of transfusion rates has been shown to lower
the incidence of
♦ Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)
♦ Intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH)
♦ Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
♦ Chronic lung disease (CLD)