Thursday May 17, 2007
FFP and platelet transfusion may be associated more with ALI/ARDS than pRBC transfusion


This is a well known fact that transfusion cause acute lung injury (ALI) / ARDS. but this is probably the first study which has formally evaluated the transfusion of specific blood products as a risk factor for ALI/ARDS in critically ill medical patients. Study is published in this month issue of chest 1.

Dr. Hasrat Khan and coll. from Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN has looked into 841 consecutive critically ill patients and compared 298 patients who received blood product transfusions with those who did not. ALI/ARDS developed more commonly (25% vs 18%) in patients exposed to any transfusion.

Seventeen patients received massive RBC transfusions (ie, more than 10 units of blood transfused within 24 hours), of whom 13 also received fresh-frozen plasma (FFP) and 11 received platelet transfusions.

Among those patients receiving individual blood products, ALI/ARDS was more likely to develop in patients who received FFP transfusions (OR, 2.48) and platelet transfusions (OR, 3.89) than in those who received only RBC transfusions (OR, 1.39).

Study Concluded that transfusion is associated with an increased risk of the development of ALI/ARDS in critically ill medical patients. The risk is higher with transfusions of plasma-rich blood products, FFP, and platelets, than with RBCs.


Reference: click to get abstract
1. Fresh-Frozen Plasma and Platelet Transfusions Are Associated With Development of Acute Lung Injury in Critically Ill Medical Patients - Chest. 2007; 131:1308-1314