Prevalence of Acute Complications of Transfusion in Children with β-thalassemia Major in Southeast Iran: A Prospective Study

Acute complications of transfusion are among leading causes of morbidity and mortality in chronically transfused patients. One of the main goals of the blood transfusion is reducing complications, improve blood safety and patient's health care worldwide. The purpose of present study was to investigate the prevalence of acute complications of transfusion in beta thalassemia major (TM) patients in Southeast Iran. In a prospective study, 23882 transfusions were evaluated in TM patients in thalassemia clinic for acute reactions during 2 years period. Data were collected by forms to record the information related to blood transfusion at the time of reaction occurence. The assessment of the data revealed that 228 TM (0.95%) had acute complications of transfusion. Of 23882 transfusions in TM patients, 211 patients (0.87%) developed allergic reactions, 11 patients (0.04%) were diagnosed with febrile non-hemolytic reaction and 1 patient (0.004%) had experienced acute hemolytic transfusion reaction. The results of current study supports preventive measures for reduction of these complications to improve patient's health. Acute complications occurred may be due to insufficient ability to perform blood bank tests, lack of standard operating instructions and lack of necessary monitoring during the transfusion process. The best way to reduce the risk of blood transfusion reactions is providing special care to the patients during the first 24 hours after transfusion. Creating a consistent and continuous education system with standard operating instructions and establishing an error reporting system leads to improve knowledge about transfusion guidelines and best practices.