Abstract

WASTE NOT: WANT NOT; A FIVE YEAR STUDY OF BLOOD WASTAGE-REASONS, SOLUTIONS AND ECONOMIC DEPRIVATIONS

Anagha A. Joshi and Suja Ajoykumar*

ABSTRACT

Introduction/Background: Blood is a precious commodity, humans are its only source. The role of transfusion therapy in medicine is escalating with demand outstripping supply; the problem compounded by blood wastage. Aims and Objectives: Our study aims to identify causes of blood wastage; suggest remedial measures to prevent wastage and allow its judicious use. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of data collected from blood discard forms and records over five years in KIMS Hospital blood bank Bangalore. Results: Of 26196 phlebotomies, a total discard of 2810 whole blood and components with average of 562 units and average discard rate of 10.7% was noted. Seropositivity (35%) was the leading cause followed by outdated (30%) and damaged units (15%). Discard rates were higher with lower voluntary donor numbers. Conclusions: Blood wastage resulted from inventory mismanagement, lax donor selection criteria and technical shortcomings. These can be circumvented by stringent donor selection guidelines, expanding voluntary donor pool, proper inventory management and improving technical expertise.

Keywords: Blood discard, seropositive, expiry, blood wastage.