Audit of transfusion of blood products in paediatric congenital heart surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass.

BACKGROUND

Cardiac surgery is associated with peri-operative bleeding, which may result in the need for blood transfusion, particularly in paediatric congenital cardiac surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). There is a necessity for regular auditing in order to improve practices.

METHODS

Retrospective, contextual, descriptive data of 105 patients were collected for the period January to December 2014.

RESULTS

The median age of patients was four (1-6) years, weight was 13 (8.4-20) kg, and mean lowest CPB haemoglobin level was 8.3 (1.5) g/dl. There was a statistically significant difference in median red packed cell (RPC), platelet and cryoprecipitate units per patient transfused across four RACHS (risk-adjusted classification for congenital heart surgery) categories (p = 0.03, p = 0.0013, p = 0.0001, respectively). There was a statistically significant correlation between transfused fresh frozen plasma units with CPB time (r = 0.2634, p = 0.0199) and RPC units (r = -0.4654, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Although no standardised transfusion guidelines were available, overall transfusion of blood products was comparable to reported practices.