Do You Need More Blood Product or No! Use of Blood and Blood Products During COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a serious reduction both in blood donation and use of blood. The number of volunteer blood donors reduced to a great extent. Planning of blood transfusion services during a pandemic is essential to ensure appropriate management of blood reserve. The objective of this study was to define the transfusion needs of COVID-19 patients who needed to be hospitalized and to evaluate the impact on total hospital blood supply. Methods: This is a single-center retrospective observational study evaluating blood transfusion requirements over a 1-year period between March 11, 2020 and March 1, 2021 at the transfusion center. The clinical data were obtained from the hospital information management system records, and transfusion data were obtained from the laboratory information management system. Results: One hundred and eighty-one (44.5%) of 406 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized needed blood transfusion. A total of 4106 (17.6%) units of blood were transfused to these individuals. The majority of blood products used were fresh frozen plasma (FFP). The number of transfusion of platelets (PLT) and erythrocyte suspensions (ES) were lower. The ES, PLT, and FFP transfusion rates in COVID-19 patients were found lower compared to patients who did not have COVID-19. The total number of transfusions of blood components was found significantly reduced compared to the same period in previous years. There was a 10.4% decrease in total blood component count, 15.4% decrease in ES, 40.2% decrease in PLT, and an 11% increase in FFP. Conclusion: While pandemics may reduce blood supply, our study showed that the rate of use of blood products was low in COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized. Studies examining patient factors may help to elucidate the mechanisms that affect the use of blood products in hospitalized COVID-19 populations to a greater extent.