Study of Blood Component Therapy in Neonates

Objectives Blood components which are used in modern day practice include, apart from whole blood, a variety of other products like Packed Red Blood Cells, Platelets, Leucocytes, Plasma, Cryoprecipitate and individual factor concentrates. Blood component therapy is a very common intervention practiced in new-borns. The objective of this research was to study the Indications, Pattern of usage & Acute Non-infectious Transfusion Reactions (ANITR) of Blood Component therapy in neonates in Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute (MGMCRI), Puducherry and to have an overview of evaluation of component therapy in neonatal practice. Materials and Methods In this study 210 neonates who received various blood component transfusion like Packed Red Blood Cells, Random Donor Platelets, Fresh Frozen Plasma, Cryoprecipitate and Whole Blood (as comparator) in MGMCRI during the period of APRIL 2012 - MARCH 2015 were followed and studied in this cross sectional study. Observation and result Neonatal Blood Component Therapy in 210 neonates, Indications Neonatal anemia in 60 %, Thrombocytopenia in 52 %, Others - 42 % were observed. Pattern of usage Platelets - 42 %, Packed Red Blood Cell-s - 34 %, Fresh Frozen Plasma - 23 % and Cryoprecipitate - 1 % were observed. Acute Non-infectious Transfusion Reactions were observed in 7.5 % of cases. The study was extended to the other parameters like gestational age (term), sex and birth weight of the neonates also. Conclusion There is increased usage of all Blood Component for appropriate indication for the transfusion in neonates during the period of study. Minimal transfusion reactions mainly Acute Non-infectious Transfusion Reactions not warranting stoppage of transfusion were seen. Most frequently used component was Platelets and maximum usage of components was seen in preterm and very low birth weight babies.