Transfusion medicine reviews
-
The semisynthetic colloid solutions (gelatins, dextrans, and hydroxyethyl starches) are complex drugs. Their principal role in the care of the critically ill is as plasma volume expanders, but they may also affect hemorrheology, hemostasis, and inflammatory processes. The pattern of beneficial and detrimental effects varies between products. ⋯ Significant patient outcome data from large studies has until recently been lacking, and clinicians have continued to prescribe a variety of crystalloids and colloids for the maintenance of effective hemodynamic stability in critically ill patients. The recently published Saline vs Albumin Fluid Evaluation Study demonstrates that albumin has an equivalent effectiveness and safety profile to 0.9% saline as a resuscitation fluid. The choice of clinical endpoints to guide dosage (infused volume) of colloids is probably therefore more important than the choice between individual products.
-
Preservation and long-term storage of red blood cells (RBCs) is needed to ensure a readily available, safe blood supply for transfusion medicine. Effective preservation procedures are required at various steps in the production of a RBC product including testing, inventory, quality control, and product distribution. ⋯ The biopreservation of RBCs for clinical use can be categorized based on the techniques used to achieve biologic stability and ensure a viable state after long-term storage. This paper will review the history, science, current practices, and emerging technologies of current RBC biopreservation approaches: hypothermic storage, cryopreservation, and lyophilization.
-
Prior attempts to account for the cost of blood have varied in economic perspective, methodology, and scope and may have underestimated both direct and indirect costs associated with transfusions. To devise a comprehensive and standardized methodology for the United States that will improve upon existing estimates, a panel of experts in blood banking and transfusion medicine was assembled and participated in consensus deliberations using modified Delphi methods. As a first step, a process-flow model that describes all the major steps involved in collecting, processing, and transfusing blood such as donor recruitment and follow-up of transfusion sequelae was constructed. ⋯ Personnel, screening for infectious agents, information systems, laboratory evaluations, management of transfusion reactions, and equipment were ranked as the most important factors to capture but, in an effort to be all-inclusive, even minor elements were included. This consensus model is broad-based and should serve societal, provider, and payer perspectives for future cost studies. Recognizing the limitations of process-flow models, the next iteration will use an activity-based approach to more fully account for the cost of blood than present estimates.
-
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) optimizes clinical decision making by dictating that clinical decisions be based on the best available research evidence and by integrating best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values. Several rankings of the strength of the evidence generated from different types of clinical research designs have been presented, and, in addressing a particular problem, clinicians can base their decision making on the types of clinical reports that have been published, along with an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each study. ⋯ Reasons why policy decisions are often based on considerations other than the best research evidence include public expectations about transfusion safety and proposals for applying the precautionary principle to transfusion medicine. Using the debate over the appropriateness of introducing universal white-cell reduction as an example, this review describes 2 perspectives for assessing evidence and/or making clinical or policy decisions: the evidence-based approach and the precautionary-principle approach; and also considers whether decisions in transfusion medicine can be truly evidence based.
-
Quality patient care entails more than simply biomedical interventions. Respect for the wishes, values, and preferences of patients are important elements of quality care. ⋯ This article reviews the Witness position on medical care, blood components, and fractions, placing these and related interventions into categories that may help physicians to individualize clinical management plans and meet the challenge of caring for patients who are Jehovah's Witnesses. It includes an overview of cost, safety, efficacy, and medicolegal issues related to patient care using transfusion-alternative strategies.