Recipient hemovigilance study in a university teaching hospital of South India: An institutional report for the year 2014–2015

Background and Aim: Blood transfusion plays an important role in improving the health and saves lives. However, it is a double-edged sword, which should be used judiciously as it is also inherently embedded with adverse reactions ranging in severity from minor to life threatening events. Haemovigilance programme of India (HvPI) aims to ensure the transfusion safety by monitoring every step of transfusion process from donor to recipient. Recipient hemovigilance is reporting of adverse transfusion reactions (ATRs) in the patient. Contributing to this program as registered member, this study aimed to determine the frequency and type of ATRs in blood recipients. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Transfusion Medicine of a University Teaching Hospital of South India. This was a retrospective, observational study in which all ATRs reported by the department to HvPI observed in patients admitted in various clinical departments over a period of 24 months (January 2014 to December 2015) were reviewed and analyzed. Results: During the study, a total of 31,687 blood and blood components were issued, out of which a total of 66 (0.2%) ATRs were reported. The most common type of reaction observed was febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reaction (FNHTR) 54.55% (n = 36), followed by allergic 33.33% (n = 22). The other reactions observed were nonspecific reactions 9.09% (n = 6), acute hemolytic reaction 1.52% (n = 1), and mixed type reaction of FNHTR and allergic reaction in 1.52% (n = 1). No case of transfusion-related acute lung injury, transfusion-associated circulatory overload, anaphylaxis, and transfusion-related sepsis was reported. The ATRs were seen mostly with packed red blood cells (78.8%). Conclusion: The frequency of ATR in our institution was 0.2%. Febrile and allergic reactions were the most common type.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-SA

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