Pattern of Blood Products Transfusions and Reactions among Multi-Transfused Haemophiliacs in Nigeria : Implications on Haemophilia Care in Low Resource Tropical Settings

Background: FVIII-concentrate is cornerstone for managing haemophilia-A. Scarcity of FVIII-concentrate compels caregivers in poor countries to adopt less effective therapeutic transfusion strategies with various FVIII-containing blood products including fresh whole blood (FWB), unfrozen fresh plasma (uFP), thawed fresh frozen plasma (tFFP), cryoprecipitate (CP) and stored red cell concentrates (sRCC) for managing haemophilia. This strategy predisposes to sensitizations and immune ______________________________ Corresponding author Sagir G Ahmed Tel: +234 8034418015 Email: drsagirahmed@yahoo.com mediated acute transfusion reactions (IMATRs). Hence in this paper we analyzed the pattern of blood products transfusions and frequencies of IMATRs among multitransfused haemophiliacs in Nigeria. Methods: We determined demographic and clinical data, frequencies of transfusion of each blood product, the prevalence of IMATRs, and the relative frequencies of each type of IMATRs among multi-transfused haemophiliacs. Comparisons between patients with and without IMATRs were done using ttest for mean values and Fisher‘s exact test for frequencies: p values of < 0.05 were taken as significant. Results: Total of 86 haemophiliacs received multiple transfusions of five types of blood products (FWB, uFP, tFFP, sRCC or CP) during study period. The frequencies of