Hemotherapy in pediatrics at Cebu Doctors Hospital (a five year retrospective study) /
Nelda Vicuna [and two others]
Over the past several years, blood transfusions have garnered much attention because of their cost, limited availability of blood components, and the exposure of patients to iatrogenic hazards associated with the use of transfusion. However, transfusion of blood components are indispensable to the modern care of critically ill pediatric patients Patterns of blood transfusion practices over a 5 year period (1987-1991) are described. Use of blood and blood products are limited to Whole blood (WB), Packed Red Blood Cell (PRBC), Platelet concentrate (PC), Platelet rich plasma (PRP), and plasma only in this present hospital blood bank set-up, of which PC (average 233 units per year) is more in demand because of the greater number of DHF (30.8%) patients admitted throughout the study period. Packed red cell (ave. of 57 units per year) transfusion followed the line for the common hematologic cases Since pediatric patients utilize only small volumes of blood, much are wasted on the PRBC and plasma components (ave. of 204-206 units per year, respectively) Transfusion trigger for anemia and thrombocytopenia varies from one clinical practitioner to another in response to the varied clinical conditions.