Appropriate and inappropriate use of fresh frozen plasma.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the current situation of use and misuse of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) in various clinical situations.


METHODS
This was a cross sectional study done at Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) during a period of 4 months from December 2002 to March 2003. About 300 file records of those patients who received fresh frozen plasma were studied. Each file record was checked for the diagnosis of the patient, coagulation profile and doctor's trigger for blood transfusion. The indications of FFP were checked according to guidelines set by British Committee of Standards and Haematology.


RESULTS
Of 1486 units of FFP that were transfused to 300 patients, it was observed that 78.6% (1169 / 1486) of FFP was appropriately transfused while the remaining 21.3% (317/1486 units) was used without any supportive evidence.


CONCLUSIONS
Although majority of the plasma was used appropriately, a considerable volume of plasma was also wasted.
Moiz
Bushra
B
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
Arif
Fauzia Muhammad
FM
Hashmi
Khalid Zafar
KZ
D016913:Blood Component Transfusion / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D010154:Pakistan; D010949:Plasma; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic