18 years outlook of transfusion center through the perspective of hospital transfusion committee decisions

Abstract

The Hospital Transfusion Committee (HTC) establishes policies and guidelines to ensure the efficient, safe, and cost-effective use of transfusion services. The effectiveness of these policies can be assessed through transfusion statistics. This research aimed to evaluate our transfusion center's performance using statistical data and provide insights into the HTC's decision-making process. Archive records of the hospital transfusion committee at Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University Medical Faculty Hospital from 2005-2023 were reviewed. A total of 263 decisions were classified by content into general categories. The committee's effectiveness was evaluated using hospital transfusion statistics. The committee prioritized the following three agenda items: completion of training, certification, and job descriptions for transfusion center staff, per national guidelines (n=49, 18.6%); haemovigilance, including personnel effectiveness, adverse event notification, and transfusion reaction management (n=27, 10.3%); and improving patient blood management definition and applicability, and increasing preoperative anemia outpatient clinic utilization (n=21, 8%). Blood destruction rates were reduced from 13 % to 0.21 %. It was determined that the habit of requesting two units increased the number of blood utilisation. Despite recommendations, requests for preoperative Hgb levels above 10 g/dl persisted for various surgeries and patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease. Requesting two units increased blood utilization. Minimizing these incidents is achievable through the implementation and use of electronic patient identification systems The crossmatch-to-transfusion (CM/T) ratio of 1.92 was below the optimal value of <2.5. Implementing evidence-based blood utilization strategies can enhance transfusion management, demonstrate efficient blood use, minimize labor wastage, and decrease discarded units.