Transfusion
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Obstetric services depend on the transfusion service (TS) to provide diagnostic testing and blood component therapy for clinical care pathways. ⋯ QI initiatives for RhIG prophylaxis, diagnostic blood test ordering, and MTP improve TS support of obstetric services.
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Although a subset of recent studies have suggested that red blood cell (RBC) storage length is associated with adverse patient outcomes, others have shown no such relationship. Adults may be transfused with RBC units of different storage lengths, and existing studies do not take into consideration that fresh RBCs may alter responses to concurrently transfused stored RBCs. To test this possibility, we utilized a murine model and investigated transfusion outcomes of fresh, stored, or fresh-plus-stored RBCs. ⋯ These results are consistent with fresh murine HOD RBCs losing protective properties during storage, and introduce a previously unrecognized variable in RBC storage studies. If translatable to humans, uniform "old blood" groups may be needed in future clinical studies to more accurately investigate the biologic effects of older RBC units.