Blood transfusion reactions and institutional hemovigilance protocols: A 2-year retrospective single center audit

Background: Blood transfusion reactions contribute significantly to the morbidity and mortality of both in- and outpatients in hospitals globally. Developing adequate protocols for detecting and reporting this complication is key to attaining global blood transfusion safety. Objective: The objective of the study was to review the frequency of blood transfusion reactions and the adequacy of institutional hemovigilance efforts in a Nigerian hospital. Materials and Methods: Records of patients that had blood transfusion reactions (cases) and those that did not (controls) were analyzed over a 2-year period. Sociodemographic information, transfusion and admission histories, primary diagnoses, as well as transfusion reaction details (where applicable) were recorded. Data were analyzed using STATA 16.1 (StataCorp. 2019, Stata Statistical Software: Release 16, College Station, TX: StataCorp LLC). Sociodemographic characteristics were presented in frequency tables and charts, whereas relationships between study variables were compared using the Chi-square and the Person Correlation. P value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant (confidence level = 95%). Results: One death was recorded among the cases during the study, whereas febrile nonhemolytic reactions constituted the most type of reaction (41.5%). Only 37.5% of reactions were investigated, and none was reported to the hospital blood transfusion/hemovigilance committee. There was no significant association between the study-related variables and the type of reaction or the likelihood of experiencing a new reaction with subsequent transfusions (P values all > 0.05). Conclusion: Febrile reactions are the commonest complication of blood transfusion in our data set; institutional hemovigilance efforts remain suboptimal and should be further strengthened.