Exchange transfusion in complicated pediatric malaria: A critical appraisal

Complicated falciparum malaria is a killer disease resulting in high mortality in spite of appropriate treatment. Some workers have reported improved survival when adjunct exchange blood transfusion is included in the treatment modality while others opine against it. This review is an effort to address and critically appraise current evidence for the treatment mode for severe malaria. The literature was searched with a specified search strategy to identify reports of children who underwent exchange transfusion for severe malaria. Total 23 children who underwent exchange transfusion for severe falciparum malaria published by 9 authors were identified. Age ranged from 5 months to 16 years with a mean age of 6.4 years. The average preprocedure parasite index (PI) was 41.4% (95confidence interval [CI]; 31.2-51.4). The average blood volume exchanged was 118.6% (95% CI; 94.7-143) of the circulating blood volume. The average postexchange reduction in PI was 34.1% (95% CI; 25.4-42.8). Three out of 23 children encountered some complications. All the children survivedKeywords: Exchange blood transfusion, parasite index, pediatric Intensive Care Unit, red cell exchange, severe falciparum malaria.