Pattern of blood procurement, ordering and utilization in a University Hospital in Eastern Saudi Arabia.
OBJECTIVE
The main objectives of this study were to review blood procurement, ordering, utilization, and causes of discarding blood in a University hospital and provide recommendations for improvement. The study was also aimed at sheding light on the frequency of seropositivity for certain disease markers in blood donors.


METHODS
This review comprised a retrospective 5-year analysis from January 1996 to December 2000 at King Fahad Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.


RESULTS
In this study, the most common donors were replacement (46%) and statutory donors (35%), while volunteer blood donors comprised a lower percentage (19%). There was a high crossmatch transfusion ratio (2.96:1) and similarly a high percentage of cancelled transfusions after crossmatching (66.2%). The 2 most commonly ordered blood components were packed red blood cells (45.7%) and random platelet concentrates (19.2%). The infective causes for discarding blood were: hepatitis B core antibody seropositivity (16.9%), hepatitis B surface antigen seropositivity (2.4%) followed by hepatitis C antibody seropositivity (1.5%), and rapid plasma reagin (serological test for syphilis) positivity (1%). The common non-infective causes of discarding blood in descending order or frequency were: expired unit shelf life (3.6%), positive donor antibody screen (0.7%), red blood cell morphological abnormalities (0.4%), and blood unit insufficient quantity (0.3%). Release of emergency uncrossmatched blood ranged at 0.6% during the study period.


CONCLUSIONS
Performing blood bank internal audits and reviewing statistics are vital tools for a successful blood transfusion service. Implementing policies such as type and screen and the maximum surgical blood-ordering schedules will lead to monetary savings and more effective blood utilization. Drives for enhancement of volunteer blood donors are recommended.
Bashawri
Layla A
LA
Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, King Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
D001771:Blood Banks / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends