When do you give irradiated blood products?
To prevent ta-GvHD, irradiated blood products should be given to patients at risk: patients after bone marrow transplantation, newborns and children in the 1st year, patients with severe combined immunodeficiency, and patients receiving blood from first-degree relatives.
How much blood do you give a pediatric patient?
The typical dose for children weighing less than 15 kg is 10–20 mL/kg. Children above 15 kg may receive a single apheresis donation (approximately 300 mL). The recommended rate of administration is 10–20 mL/kg/h. Platelets should be ABO-compatible to reduce the risk of haemolysis caused by donor plasma.
Which patients should receive irradiated blood components?
Immunocompromised patients such as
- Infants (particularly premature) up to 4, 6, or 12 months depending on institutional policy.
- Intrauterine transfusion* and/or neonatal exchange transfusion recipients.
- Congenital immunodeficiency disorders of cellular immunity (i.e., SCID, DiGeorge)*
Is irradiated blood safe?
Irradiation does not cause any significant damage. The blood does not become ‘radioactive’ and will not harm you or anyone around you. What if blood is needed in an emergency? Although irradiated blood is recommended for you, if you receive non-irradiated blood the risk of TA-GvHD is very small.
How many irradiated blood components are used in HSCT?
For 43 patients the indication for irradiation was haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The number of components received by an individual was variable (not reported in 66, 10%) and ranged from 1 to 486. Overall, 477 (84%) patients received between 1 and 4 components.
When did the irradiated blood guideline get updated?
[Following technical errors at the editorial office and publisher’s office, this Guideline has been updated on 8 October 2020 after its first online publication. If you downloaded a version of this Guideline before this date, we ask you to refer to this updated version]
Do you have to notify the blood bank when you are irradiated?
The blood bank should have a process to ensure and document that irradiation is performed whenever indicated. Clinicians should notify their blood bank of any patients who should receive only irradiated cellular blood components to facilitate identification of patients for whom irradiation is indicated.
Why do pediatric cancer patients need filtered blood?
All pediatric cancer patients will receive irradiated blood products in order to prevent transfusion related graft-versus-host disease. All pediatric cancer and sickle cell patients will receive filtered blood products. Filtration is an effective way to eliminate the risk of CMV infection in patients with cancer, and prevents alloimmunization.