Pediatr Neonatol
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Critically ill children in pediatric intensive care units are commonly indicated for blood transfusion due to many reasons. Children are quite different from adults during growth and development, and that should be taken into consideration. It is very difficult to establish a universal transfusion guideline for critically ill children, especially preterm neonates. ⋯ Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-seronegative blood, leukoreduced and/or irradiated blood are recommended for prevention of CMV infection, graft-versus-host-disease and alloimmunization in neonate and immunocompromised patient transfusion. There is no reason to prescribe a plasma product for nutritional supplementation because of the risk of complications. The principle: complications of transfusion must be avoided, the rate of blood exposure should be reduced and the safety of the transfused agents or components should be maintained must always be kept in mind.