• Miguel Glatstein, Tal Oron, Mila Barak, Francis B Mimouni, and Shaul Dollberg.
• Department of Neonatology, Lis Maternity Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, and the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2005 Nov 1; 6 (6): 707-8.

ObjectiveTo determine whether hematocrit obtained 15 mins after blood transfusion in hemodynamically stable neonates is significantly different from that obtained after 6 hrs. We hypothesized that the hematocrit stabilizes within the first 15 mins that follow a 3-hr blood transfusion in preterm infants.DesignWe prospectively studied 24 consecutive infants who received blood transfusion. Hematocrit was measured immediately before the transfusion and 15 mins and 6 hrs after the transfusion of 10 mL/kg body weight of sedimented red blood cells administered over 3 hrs. Hematocrit was measured by centrifugation of a capillary.ResultsThere was a significant increase in hematocrit from pretransfusion values both at 15 mins and 6 hrs. The increase in hematocrit from the pretransfusion value was identical (11%) at both 15 mins and 6 hrs.ConclusionThe hematocrit obtained 15 mins after the end of a 3-hr blood transfusion in hemodynamically stable, anemic infants is indistinguishable from that obtained after 6 hrs in the same infants. Thus, if the increase of hematocrit is deemed insufficient at 15 mins after the transfusion, it is possible to complete the transfusion without exposing the patient to an additional donor.

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