Blood transfusion reactions in children: associated factors

Objective: To analyze the profile of blood transfusion reactions in children and to identify the involved factors. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in a tertiary pediatric teaching hospital from the public healthcare system, involving all children admitted from January to July of 2011 (5,437), of which 1,226 received blood transfusions, constituting the sample. A documental study was performed by analyzing files from the hemovigilance service and notification forms of transfusion reactions. The variables investigated were: number and type of blood components transfused, transfusion site, reaction site, age, gender, type of blood components involved, type of incident, and previous history of multiple transfusions. A descriptive and inferential analysis was performed, using statistical tests to establish the association between the variables. Results: There were 57 transfusion incidents involving 47 children and 72 different blood products, thus constituting a prevalence of reactions of 3.8%. At the inferential analysis, the chi-squared test showed that the following variables were significantly associated (p<0.05) with the type of reaction: age range and type of blood component. Similarly, the patient's underlying disease was associated with previous history of transfusion incident and type of blood component. Conclusions: The prevalence of transfusion reactions in children is high, and the intervening factors are: type of blood component, age, patient comorbidity, and multiple transfusions; type of blood component and age are also associated with type of reaction. (C) 2013 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.