Audit of transfusion of blood products in paediatric congenital heart surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac surgery is associated with peri-operative bleeding, which may result in the need for blood transfusion, particularly in paediatric congenital cardiac surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). There is a necessity for regular auditing in order to improve practices.

METHODS: Retrospective, contextual, descriptive data of 105 patients were collected for the period January to December 2014.

RESULTS: The median age of patients was four (1-6) years, weight was 13 (8.4-20) kg, and mean lowest CPB haemoglobin level was 8.3 (1.5) g/dl. There was a statistically significant difference in median red packed cell (RPC), platelet and cryoprecipitate units per patient transfused across four RACHS (risk-adjusted classification for congenital heart surgery) categories ( p = 0.03, p = 0.0013, p = 0.0001, respectively). There was a statistically significant correlation between transfused fresh frozen plasma units with CPB time ( r = 0.2634, p = 0.0199) and RPC units ( r = -0.4654, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Although no standardised transfusion guidelines were available, overall transfusion of blood products was comparable to reported practices.