Abstract

Background: The blood transfusion reactions occur during or after transfusion. The untoward affect vary from being relatively mild to lethal. Some of them can be prevented while others cannot. Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is an uncommon, probably unrecognized complication of transfusion of plasma containing blood components, which is characterized by acute respiratory distress. It is diagnosed when acute lung injury (ALI) occurs during or within 6 h of transfusion in a patient without preexisting ALI in the absence of alternative risk factors such as sepsis, shock, and cardiac failure for ALI.
Objective: To study the blood transfusion reactions in the recipient, a study was carried out over a period of 3 years in Government Medical College and Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences (ASCOMS), Jammu – two tertiary-care centers of the region.
Materials and Methods: In a retrospective study, over a period of 3 years (January 2008–January 2011), transfusion reactions were analyzed in two tertiary-care centers in the Department of Transfusion Medicine of Government Medical College and Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences (ASCOMS), Jammu.
Results: The total number of transfusions given in these two tertiary-care centers during 3-year study period was 68,290 with 3% of overall incidence of transfusion reactions, which is insignificant with the incidence of febrile reactions being highest (1.63%) and that of TRALI being lowest (0.0029%). Conclusion: Blood banks did not have facility for demonstrating human leukocyte antigen class antibody or leuko- agglutinins in the blood donors. However, majority of blood donors were males repeat voluntary donors and previously not implicated in any blood transfusion reaction. The pre-transfusion cross-matching procedures were compatible. The possibility of trauma or injury may be the pathogenic trigger for TRALI.