Transition from room temperature to cold‐stored platelets for the preservation of blood inventories during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Background The COVID‐19 pandemic has placed great strain on blood resources. In an effort to extend platelet (PLT) shelf life and minimize waste, our institution transitioned room temperature to cold‐stored PLTs for administration to bleeding patients. Study Design and Methods We describe the admini...
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Published in | Transfusion Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 72 - 77 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article Web Resource |
Language | English |
Published |
Hoboken, USA
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
01.01.2021
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background
The COVID‐19 pandemic has placed great strain on blood resources. In an effort to extend platelet (PLT) shelf life and minimize waste, our institution transitioned room temperature to cold‐stored PLTs for administration to bleeding patients.
Study Design and Methods
We describe the administrative and technical processes involved in transitioning room temperature PLTs to cold storage in April 2020. Additionally, we describe the clinical utilization of cold‐stored PLTs in the first month of this practice change, with a focus on changes in PLT counts after transfusion, hemostasis, and safety outcomes.
Results
A total of 61 cold‐stored PLT units were transfused to 40 bleeding patients, with a median (interquartile range [IQR]) of 1 (1‐2) units per patient. The median age was 68 (59‐73) years; 58% male. Median pretransfusion and posttransfusion PLTs counts were 88 (67‐109) and 115 (93‐145). A total of 95% of transfusions were administered in the operating room: 57% cardiac surgery, 20% vascular surgery, 8% general surgery, and 5% solid organ transplantation. Hemostasis was deemed to be adequate in all cases after transfusion. There were no transfusion reactions. One patient (3%) experienced a fever and infection within 5 days of transfusion, which was unrelated to transfusion. Median (IQR) hospital length of stay was 8.5 (6‐17) days. Two patients (5%) died in the hospital of complications not related to transfusion.
Conclusion
Cold‐stored PLT utilization was associated with adequate hemostasis and no overt signal for patient harm. Conversion from room temperature to cold‐stored PLTs may be one method of reducing waste in times of scarce blood inventories. |
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Bibliography: | Funding information Funding informationThis study was supported by NIH R01 grant (HL121232) to D.J.K. and by CTSA Grant Number KL2 TR002379 to M.A.W. from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. This study was supported by NIH R01 grant (HL121232) to D.J.K. and by CTSA Grant Number KL2 TR002379 to M.A.W. from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Funding information This study was supported by NIH R01 grant (HL121232) to D.J.K. and by CTSA Grant Number KL2 TR002379 to M.A.W. from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. |
ISSN: | 0041-1132 1537-2995 |
DOI: | 10.1111/trf.16148 |