Prescription and consumption patterns of blood and blood components in patients undergoing orthopaedic and neurosurgical procedures at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute, DSM, Tanzania.

Abstract

Background: Blood is a scarce resource, since there's limited availability of donated blood and absence of effective substitute that can perform the vital functions of blood; therefore, clinicians should cautiously assess the appropriateness of prescription of blood and blood components to minimize wastage of blood resources and optimize the utilization of blood products. Objective: To determine prescription and consumption patterns of blood and blood components in patients undergoing orthopaedic and neurosurgical procedures at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute, from May to September 2016. Methodology: Prospective Descriptive Cross-Sectional study was conducted at MOI, over period of five months. Data for elective and emergency surgeries were collected from patient’s case files, laboratory requisition forms and blood bank registries. Blood utilization was calculated using crossmatch to transfusion ratio (CTR), transfusion probability (%T), and transfusion index (TI) indices. Results: During the study period, a total of 563 units of blood were crossmatched, and 502 units (89%) were transfused for 280 patients, and the overall blood transfusion of the requested blood which was explained by indices of CTR, %T, and TI were 1.12, 100%, and 1.79, respectively. Conclusion: The data for the crossmatch to transfusion ratio (CTR), transfusion probability (%T), and transfusion index (TI) were optimal; Hence, Blood utilization was efficient in both orthopaedic and neurosurgical procedures