A Study of Blood Transfusion in Pediatric Patients at a Teaching Hospital, Aden, Yemen

Figures & data

Table 1 Distribution of Children and Transfusion Episodes by Age, Sex and Location

Variables	Children (n=202)		Transfusion Episodes (n=360)		Ratio
	n	%	n	%
Age (years)
<1	32	15.8	45	12.5	1.4
1–5	69	34.2	105	29.2	1.5
6–10	47	23.3	109	30.3	2.3
11–16	54	26.7	101	28.1	1.9
Sex
Male	128	63.4	215	59.7	1.7
Female	74	36.6	145	40.3	1.9
Location (ward)
Hematology	136	67.3	219	60.8	1.6
Oncology	17	8.4	79	21.9	4.6
ICU	18	8.9	27	7.5	1.5
General	13	6.4	16	4.4	1.2
Isolation	12	5.9	13	3.6	1.1
Gastroenterology	6	3.0	6	1.7	1.0

Table 2 Distribution of Blood Components by Indication

Indication	RBC		Whole Blood		Platelets		All
	n	%	n	%	n	%	N	%
Hemoglobinopathies	154	72.6	3	3.2	–	–	157	43.6
SCD	110	51.9	3	3.2	–	–	113	31.3
Thalassemia	44	20.8	–	–	–	–	44	12.2
Malignancies	12	5.7	39	41.1	40	76.9	91	25.3
Leukemias	2	0.9	32	33.7	29	55.8	63	17.5
Solid tumors and lymphomas	10	4.7	7	7.4	11	21.2	28	7.8
Impaired hematopoiesis^b	22	10.4	18	18.9	–	–	41	11.3
Critically ill patient	14	6.6	9	9.5	1	1.9	24	6.7
Visceral leishmaniasis	2	0.9	12	12.6	2	3.8	16	4.4
Malaria	3	1.4	10	10.5	1	1.9	14	3.9
Bleeding disorders	1	0.5	3	3.2	6	11.5	10	2.8
Others^a	4	1.9	1	1.1	2	3.8	7	1.9

Table 3 Pre-transfusion Hb Levels and Platelets Count by Indication

Indication	RBC Transfusions		Platelets Transfusions
	Hb (g/dL)	Platelets (10^3/mm^Citation3)	Hb (g/dL)	Platelets (10^3/mm^Citation3)
Hemoglobinopathies
SCD	5.15±1.32	281.58±169.38	–	–
Thalassemia	6.95±0.86	320.57±175.28	–	–
Malignancies
Leukemias	7.71±2.11	45.23±38.19	9.70±1.50	27.32±33.44
Solid tumors and lymphomas	6.61±1.71	202.24±234.23	9.45±1.31	17.24±10.47
Impaired hematopoiesis	5.33±2.55	223.56±203.94	–	–
Critically ill patient	7.88±2.40	234.78±149.18	9.50±9.50	14.00±14.00
Visceral leishmaniasis	5.97±1.19	99.93±90.15	9.85±0.8	15.00±18.38
Malaria	5.88±1.64	129.62±167.28	8.00±8.00	10.00±10.00
Bleeding disorders	5.93±0.79	110.75±74.24	11.90±0.75	5.17±2.17
Others^a	7.48±0.95	332.50±189.02	8.35±1.80	36.50±30.41

Table 4 Clinical Outcomes of Transfused Children

Variables	All, n=202		Alive, n=177		Dead, n=25
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Sex
Male	128	63.4	118	92.2	10	7.8
Female	74	36.6	59	79.7	15	20.3
Age group (years)
<1	32	15.8	19	59.4	13	40.6
1–5	69	34.2	62	89.9	7	10.1
6–10	47	23.3	44	93.6	3	6.4
11–16	54	26.7	52	96.3	2	3.7
Indications
Hemoglobinopathies	100	49.5	100	100	0	0
Malignancies	23	11.4	18	78.3	5	21.7
Impaired hematopoiesis	8	4.0	3	37.5	5	62.5
Critically ill patient	24	11.9	16	66.7	8	33.3
Visceral leishmaniasis	16	7.9	12	75.0	4	25
Malaria	14	6.9	11	78.6	3	21.4
Bleeding disorders	10	5.0	10	100	0	0
Others	7	3.5	7	100	0	0
Nutritional status
Normal weight	75	37.1	67	89.3	8	10.7
Underweight	127	62.9	110	86.6	17	13.4

Klein HG. Should blood be an essential medicine? N Engl J Med. 2013;368(3):199–201. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1213134

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