title: The Use of Blood Products in Adult Patients with Burns.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Burn anemia represents a common complication following a burn injury. Burn anemia etiology carries distinct features occurring at each stage of the post-injury and treatment periods resulting from different causes. We aimed to analyze the use of blood components in Finnish burn victims and to identify patient- and injury-related factors influencing their use.
  
  
  METHODS
  To study the use of blood products in burn patients, we used data collected from the Optimal Use of Blood registry, developed through co-operation between 10 major hospital districts and the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service. Burn patients ⩾18 years treated at the Helsinki University Hospital between 2005 and 2011 with an in-hospital stay ⩾1 day who received at least one transfusion during their hospital stay were included in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among all 558 burn patients, 192 (34%) received blood products during their hospital stay. The transfused cohort comprised 192 burn patients. The study cohort received a total of 6087 units of blood components, 2422 units of leukoreduced red blood cells, 1728 units of leukoreduced platelets, and 420 units of single-donor fresh frozen plasma or, after 2007, 1517 units of Octaplas(®) frozen plasma. All three types of blood components were administered to 29% of patients, whereas 45% received only red blood cells and 6% received only Octaplas. Transfused patients were significantly older (p < 0.001), experienced fire-/flame-related accidents and burns to multiple locations (p < 0.001), and their in-hospital mortality exceeded that for non-transfused burn patients fivefold (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We show that Finnish adult burn patients received ample transfusions. The number of blood components transfused varied according to the anatomical location of the injury and patient survival. Whether the additional mortality is related directly to transfusions or is merely a manifestation of the more severe burn injury remains unknown.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Helsinki and Töölö Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland virve.koljonen@hus.fi.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Koljonen
authors.affiliation: RS-koulutus, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tuimala
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland Research Programs Unit, Translational Cancer Biology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haglund
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Helsinki and Töölö Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tukiainen
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Helsinki and Töölö Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vuola
authors.affiliation: Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Juvonen
authors.affiliation: Clinical Consultations Unit, Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lauronen
authors.affiliation: Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Krusius
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012042:Registries; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Burn anemia; adults; burns; complication; transfusions