Medicinski pregled 2019 Volume 72, Issue 7-8, Pages: 229-234
https://doi.org/10.2298/MPNS1908229R
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The problem of unusable transfusion units
Radonjić Dragan (Blood Transfusion Institute of Montenegro, Organizational Unit Bar, Bar, Montenegro)
Varjačić Mirjana (Clinical Center of Kragujevac, Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Kragujevac, Serbia)
Vukanović Milan (PHI General Hospital Bar, Department of Ophthalmology, Bar, Montenegro)
Introduction. Availability of safe blood and blood products has always been a
key strategy for addressing such health-related challenges. The most common
reasons for blood wastage are expired blood validity, chylous blood,
hemolysis in bags, insufficient amount of blood or extracted blood, damage
to the bag during work or processing, blood positive for transmissible
diseases, blood suspicious of transmissible diseases. The reasons also
include insufficiently educated blood donors in terms of eating before
giving blood, sometimes clinician’s inadequate therapeutic choice regarding
the expiration of individual blood units, and sometimes unplanned taking of
less common blood groups. Material and Methods. We analyzed those blood
units that did not meet the standards, as well as the reasons why this
happened in the period from 2009 - 2014 in the Blood Transfusion Center Bar
in Montenegro. The aim of this study was to objectively show the reasons for
blood wastage in the specified period. Results. In the observed period of
time, 7.001 units of whole blood were collected. Of those, there were 796
(11.36%) unusable blood units, which is very high according to the world
standards. This is important because blood treatment is an extremely
expensive and complex method and sometimes it is very difficult to collect
rare blood groups. Conclusion. Discovering new and analyzing the existing
factors that cause unused transfusion units, by planning and introduction of
preventive measures and application only of safe blood in the treatment of
patients, will significantly reduce the number of unusable blood units and
contribute to faster and successful treatment of patients in the future.
Keywords: Blood Transfusion, Blood Banks, Blood Safety, Safety Management, Quality Control, Risk Factors