The Incidence Rate of Acute Transfusion Reactions in Thalassemia Patients Referred to the Shiraz Thalassemia Centre, Shiraz, Iran, Before and After the Establishment of the Hemovigilance System

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the incidence rate of acute transfusion reactions in thalassemia patients before and after the establishment of the hemovigilance system. This prospective descriptive study was conducted at the Dastgheyb Hospital, Shiraz, Iran, from 2009 to 2012. The incidence rate, type, imputability and severity of acute transfusion reactions were compared in thalassemia patients before and after the establishment of the hemovigilance system. A total of 741 thalassemia patients were referred to the Dastgheyb Hospital for transfusions during the study period. The incidence rates of acute transfusion reactions were reported as 0.06% (11 out of 16,214), 0.11% (23 out of 19,660), 0.10% (28 out of 26,129) and 0.2% (50 out of 24,121), respectively, from 2009 to 2012. The most frequent were major allergic reactions and febrile non hemolytic transfusion reactions (FNHTR). The transfusion reactions were increasingly reported after the establishment of the hemovigilance system in 2011 (p < 0.05). The establishment of the hemovigilance system can improve reporting of transfusion reactions. Moreover, evaluation of the incidence rate of transfusion reactions is necessary to design preventive measures to reduce transfusion risks.

• Blood transfusion(s)
• blood safety
• hemovigilance
• thalassemia
• transfusion reactions

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the cooperation of the hemovigilance ward of the Iran Blood Transfusion Centre, Shiraz, Iran. Thanks also go to Dr. Alireza Sahragard, the manager of special diseases of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Fars, Iran, for his assistance in data collection, the staff of the thalassemia ward at the Dastgheyb Hospital, Shiraz, Iran; Sanaz Safai, and Seyede Zahra Adabinia and Mehri Khalifeh (Blood Transfusion Research Centre, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Shiraz, Iran), for their cooperation in data collection, and Azadeh Mossalai, Blood Transfusion Reserch Centre, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Shiraz, Iran, for entering the data and typing the manuscript. We are also grateful to Ms. A. Keivanshekouh at the Research Improvement Centre of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Fars, Iran, for improving English usage in the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.