Introduction:

anemia is frequent in critically ill children. Between 15-50% of children hospitalized at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) will receive red blood cell transfusion during their intensive care unit (PICU) stay. The purpose of the present study was to diagnose current red blood cell transfusion practices in children with acute respiratory disease hospitalized in PICU.

Methodology:

a retrospective study was conducted analyzing the last 200 requests for red blood transfusions in children hospitalized in the PICU. The transfusions performed in children with acute respiratory failure secondary to acute respiratory disease were selected out of the initial 200 cases. Pre and post-transfusion hemoglobin values were recorded. Results were compared to the gold standard.

Results:

73 of the 200 red blood cell transfusions met the inclusion criteria. The mean age of children included was 7.1 months. Bronchiolitis was the main cause of respiratory failure. Median pre-transfusion hemoglobin value was 8.2 g/dl and the post-transfusion value was 11.5 g/dl. Mean time since admission until transfusion was performed was 1.4 days. In 4/73 cases, recommendation selected as gold standard was followed. No significant differences were found in the pre- Hb value, grouped according to the need for required respiratory support.

Conclusions:

there was a low adherence to red blood cells transfusions recommendations for children with respiratory failure.

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