Background: RBC transfusions should be based on Hb content of the products instead of units. As high as a 50-percent difference in Hb content can be encountered between two units. In this study, 500 mL of whole blood (WB)-generated RBCs according to their total Hb content was used to decrease the number of units ordered by using a new software called Hemosoft.
Study design and methods: Fifty-one consecutive patients were enrolled for the study. The median age and male-to-female ratio were 38 (range, 16-69) and 28:23, respectively. Patients' diagnoses were 38 acute leukemia, 11 lymphoma, and 2 multiple myeloma. When placing orders for RBCs, clinicians were asked to send the information about patient's actual body weight (ABW) and their actual and target Hb. The total blood volume of the recipient was calculated, and the aim was to find the best RBCs from the inventory to decrease two-unit orders to one unit, or four units to two or one unit, all done using Hemosoft. Posttransfusion Hb was checked 2 hours after transfusion. ABW and the median pretransfusion Hb level were 64 kg (range, 40-100) and 7.3 g per dL (5.6-9.8), respectively.
Results: A total of 104 RBC units were ordered for 51 patients. In 49 (96.1%), the order was for two units and in 2 (3.9%) was for three units. Hemosoft successfully found a suitable match in 62.7 percent (32/51) of the orders. Actual number of RBCs transfused was two units (41.25) and one unit (58.8%), respectively. In total, 72 units were transfused with a reduction of 30 percent (72/104) from the original order. The median target Hb level was 9.3 g per dL (range, 7.0-11.3) and overall success rate to achieve it was 96.6 percent (range, 73.8-124.2). There was no impact of inventory size, but the ABW of the recipient was found significant to have a successful match unit (58.8 +/- 11.0 kg vs. 75.0 +/- 8.4 kg, respectively; p=0.0001).
Conclusion: We clearly demonstrated that the number of RBC transfusions could be minimized by the rational use of the Hb content of the units. Although the total numbers of patients who shall benefit from this approach seems to be limited, it allows us to use high-Hb-content units rationally by using an in-house blood-banking software.