Document Detail


Development and evaluation of a new paediatric blood transfusion protocol for Africa.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20210924     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Severe anaemia is a common childhood emergency in developing countries. Practical evidence-based guidance on when to transfuse, volume of transfusion and ideal duration of transfusion is lacking. The aim of this study is to develop a paediatric transfusion protocol for use in under-resourced environments and evaluate its usability in a busy African hospital setting. A paediatric transfusion protocol based on the WHO Guidelines was developed for the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Blantyre, Malawi. On the basis of simple bedside clinical features of respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological compromise, the protocol allocates children with severe anaemia (haemoglobin <or= 6 g dL(-1)) to one of the three groups: complicated anaemia, uncomplicated anaemia and anaemia with severe malnutrition. Data were collected to monitor protocol adherence, delays to transfusion, post-transfusion haemoglobin and need for repeat transfusion. Two-hundred and fifteen severely anaemic children were enrolled: 180 complicated, 25 uncomplicated and 10 severely malnourished. With respect to protocol adherence, all children were allocated to the correct transfusion group; correct volume (+/-10%) was given in 89.3%; correct duration (+/-30 min) in 86.2% and correct overall rate (+/-10%) in 78.6%. Comparing old and new transfusion guidelines, a potential avoidable transfusion rate of 29% was found. This study demonstrates that clear and detailed transfusion guidelines based on simple bedside clinical features can be used in a very busy children's hospital in sub-Saharan Africa. With minimal additional equipment, volume and duration of transfusion can be well controlled. Furthermore, having a protocol in place results in a significant reduction of avoidable transfusions.
Authors:
B Cheema; E M Molyneux; J C Emmanuel; B M'baya; M Esan; H Kamwendo; L Kalilani-Phiri; M Boele van Hensbroek
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2010-02-23
Journal Detail:
Title:  Transfusion medicine (Oxford, England)     Volume:  20     ISSN:  1365-3148     ISO Abbreviation:  Transfus Med     Publication Date:  2010 Jun 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-06-11     Completed Date:  2010-09-28     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9301182     Medline TA:  Transfus Med     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  140-51     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Cape Town, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa. baljit.cheema@uct.ac.za
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adolescent
Africa
Anemia / epidemiology,  therapy
Blood Transfusion / methods,  standards*,  utilization
Child
Child, Preschool
Cohort Studies
Comorbidity
Emergency Service, Hospital / statistics & numerical data
Female
Guideline Adherence
Hospitals, Public
Humans
Infant
Malaria / epidemiology
Malawi
Male
Malnutrition / epidemiology
Pediatrics / standards*
Practice Guidelines as Topic*
Prospective Studies
Treatment Outcome

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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