Vox sanguinis
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Observational Study
Association between plasma transfusions and clinical outcome in critically ill children: a prospective observational study.
Plasma transfusions are commonly used in adult and paediatric intensive care units. Recent data suggest an association between plasma transfusions and worse clinical outcome in adult trauma patients. To date, no prospective paediatric study has addressed this issue. Our objective was to prospectively analyse the association between plasma transfusions and clinical outcome of critically ill children. ⋯ In critically ill children, plasma transfusions seem to be independently associated with an increased occurrence of new or progressive multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, nosocomial infections and prolonged length of stay.
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To determine the accuracy of fingerstick haemoglobin assessment in blood donors, the performance of a portable haemoglobinometer (HemoCue Hb 201+) was prospectively compared with that of an automated haematology analyzer (Cell-Dyn 4000). Haemoglobin values obtained by the latter were used as the 'true' result. ⋯ Capillary samples assessed via a portable device yielded higher haemoglobin values than venous samples assessed on an automated analyzer. False-pass and false-fail rates were low and acceptable in the donor screening setting, with 'true' values not differing by a clinically significant degree from threshold values used to assess acceptability for blood donation.