Infectious Complications of Blood Transfusion

2018 ◽  
pp. 241-266
Author(s):  
Evan M. Bloch ◽  
Cyril Jacquot ◽  
Beth H. Shaz
Keyword(s):  
Blood Transfusion ◽  
Infectious Complications ◽  
Complications Of Blood Transfusion

scholarly journals Infectious complications of blood transfusion.

BMJ ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 300 (6725) ◽  
pp. 678-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Prentice ◽  
D Cope ◽  
M Weinbren ◽  
J O'Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
Blood Transfusion ◽  
Infectious Complications ◽  
Complications Of Blood Transfusion

Since blood transfusion is linked to the magnitude of the surgical procedure, comparing transfused patients to untransfused patients will always be confounded by infection risks due to factors related to the procedure. To control for these factors one must compare patients transfused with red cells from different sources or prepared in a manner which minimize infection risk. Patients transfused with homologous blood have infection rates several fold higher than recipients of equal values of autologous blood undergoing the same operative procedure (20-23). Homologous blood recipients have significantly longer hospital stays attributed to treating infections. The cost of a blood transfusion exceeds the cost of collection, storage and administration because of transfusion's association with length of stay. In this era of cost-containment the association with prolonged stay may ultimately curtail the use of blood. Homologous blood can be filtered to remove donor leukocytes which may be contributing to immune suppression and infection risk. A prospective randomized trial comparing the infection rates among colorectal cancer patients receiving filtered and unfiltered blood has been conducted (9). There were 17 infectious complications among the 56 recipients of whole blood and one infectious complication among the 48 recipients of filtered blood. Infections were prevented by the seemingly simplistic addition of a $25/filter to every bag of blood transfused. These clinical studies are very convincing: homologous blood transfusion is associated with increased risk of infection in every clinical situation examined. In multivariate analyses transfusion was a significant predictor of infection after consideration of other variables measured and in the majority of those studies transfusion was the single most significant factor. Patients receiving homologous blood exhibited an incidence of infectious complications that was approximately four times higher than patients receiving autologous blood. The association of transfusion with infection is found among patients undergoing surgery for cardiac, orthopedic and gastrointestinal disorders and for trauma as well as among unoperated patients transfused for bums and gastrointestinal bleeding. The observation that nosocomial infections are increased in these studies argues strongly that the association of transfusion with infection is not simply a reflection of transfusion as a marker of tissue destruction and contamination. Infections that develop in transfused patients away from the site of trauma or in the absence of trauma, cannot be attributed to the quantity of tissue destroyed or to the degree of bacterial contamination. Filtered blood can remove leukocytes and prevent postoperative infections. Since filtering blood can significantly reduce the incidence of infection among transfused patients, all transfused blood will be passing through filters in the very near future. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES RELATING BLOOD TRANSFUSION TO INCREASED RISK OF INFECTION Patients are extremely heterogeneous and even in prospective randomized trials, factors which influence patients' participation affect the outcome despite double-blinding and randomization. In animal studies using syngeneic strains with identical housing, lighting, access to food and water, control over the extent of injury, use of antibiotics and exposure to other variables the influence of a single variable such as blood transfusion can be measured. Dr. Waymack's laboratory has intensively studied parameters which interact with transfusion in

1995 ◽  
pp. 296-296
Keyword(s):  
Blood Transfusion ◽  
Autologous Blood ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Infection Risk ◽  
Infectious Complications ◽  
Risk Of Infection ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Homologous Blood ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
The Cost
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document