Abstract

Smita Mahapatra*, Binay B Sahoo, Gopal K Ray, Debasish Mishra, Rashmita Panigrahi and Pankaj Parida

ABSTRACT

Background & objectives: Blood transfusion is an essential element in modern healthcare. Blood being an irreplaceable resource needs to be properly utilized with ideally minimal or zero percent wastage. The aim of our study is to find out the various causes for discard of blood and blood components so that this can help us in formulating the proper guidelines for proper donor screening, component preparation, optimal usage and training of staffs. Methods: A total of 45,329 units both voluntary and replacement were collected from January 2014 to December 2015 in the Department of Transfusion Medicine, SCB Medical College & Hospital Cuttack. Out of which 27,337 units were collected in single bag and 17,992 units were separated into components. 1264 (1.60%) units of blood and blood components were discarded during the study period. Results: The study showed discard of 55.11% out of 478 units of whole blood and 58.34% components discard out of 785 units of components due to seropositivity for TTIs. Interpretation: The commonest cause of discard was seropositivity for Transfusion Transmitted Diseases. The platelet concentrates (1.76%) had the highest rate of discard among components. Conclusions: Implementation of proper blood transfusion policy, donor screening and training of technical staffs will help to reduce the discard rate of blood and blood component which ultimately will solve the shortage of these precious elements.