Blood Component Separation Service: A New Experience in an Institution

INTRODUCTION: Blood component separation facility began dispatching its blood component units from 21(st) April 2013 at the new blood component separation service complex at B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences. With the supply of blood components being finite and with the added recognition of a high rate of inappropriate use of blood component services around the world, there is a need to monitor and regulate these services. Our study was conducted to identify blood component utilization pattern in institute and to know about different blood components demand for future preparedness. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted at B.P. Koirala Institue of Helath Sciences, Dharan, Nepal for blood component dispatched from 21(st) April, 2013- 12(th) February, 2014. Blood components requisitions from all clinical department were reviewed regarding the specific component requested, blood group and socio-demographic profile. RESULTS: Among 3054 transfusion units dispatched, 1552 were males, 1498 females and 4 unspecified. Likewise, 1722 were pack cell volume, 808 platelet rich plasma, 523 fresh frozen plasma and 1 cryoprecipitate disptached respectively with majority of A positive blood group demanded from Neonatal and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit ward for Packed Cell Volume was 201 and Fresh Frozen Plasma was 300 followed by emergency ward for Platelet Rich Plasma. About 197 (6.45%) requistions forms lacked the details of requesting department, while some even reveal multiple demands. CONCLUSIONS: Packed Cell Volume of A positive blood group being the predominant blood component requested from Neonatal Intensive Care Unit/Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit ward at the institute making most requests. Finally, these results could be useful for estimating the requirements for our newly establish blood bank to meet the demand in future.