What are some of the benefits of
patient records when pretransfusion testing?
Benefits of patient records include:
Preventing
transfusion of incompatible blood due to patient misidentification
This is one of the major uses of past records
since misidentification can lead to transfusion of ABO-incompatible
blood and life-threatening transfusion reactions.
Preventing
transfusion of incompatible blood due to weak antibodies
Records can protect patients with weak,
undetectable antibodies.
Identifying special transfusion requirements
Records increase safety by providing
information on special transfusion requirements, e.g.,
the need for CMV-negative or irradiated blood
components.
Identifying previous testing problems
Records identify
previous testing problems such as ABO and Rh typing
discrepancies and associated investigation and resolution.
Tracking
transfusion-associated transmissible diseases
Patient records are essential to tracking
transfusion-associated transmissible diseases.
