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Older blood just as good as fresh in critically ill children


January 10, 2020

Blood bags“Thanks to research like this, we are leaning more and more about how best to store blood and give life-saving transfusions. This research is defining practice around the world,” said Dr. Dean Fergusson, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at uOttawa.A large international clinical trial conducted in critically ill children has shown that fresh red cell transfusions (stored for seven days or less) are no better than older red cells (stored for up to 25 days). Transfusing the oldest red cells first is standard practice among many hospitals. However, some hospitals preferentially give fresh cells to critically ill children, even though clinical studies supporting the benefits of this practice have been lacking. 

These new findings should reassure doctors that older red cells are just as safe and effective. The randomized trial, published in JAMA, involved nearly 1,500 children from five countries and was co-led by Drs. Dean Fergusson, Philip Spinella, Marisa Tucci, and Jacques Lacroix. This trial complements previous trials in adults and premature babies that have been pivotal in defining global practices for red blood cell storage. All three trials were designed and data-managed by the Ottawa Methods Centre. See media release from the NIH and learn more about transfusion research at The Ottawa Hospital.

“Thanks to research like this, we are leaning more and more about how best to store blood and give life-saving transfusions. This research is defining practice around the world,” said Dr. Dean Fergusson, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at uOttawa.

Authors: Spinella PC, Tucci M, Fergusson DA, Lacroix J, Hébert PC, Leteurtre S, Schechtman KB, Doctor A, Berg RA, Bockelmann T, Caro JJ, Chiusolo F, Clayton L, Cholette JM, Guerra GG, Josephson CD, Menon K, Muszynski JA, Nellis ME, Sarpal A, Schafer S, Steiner ME, Turgeon AF; ABC-PICU Investigators, the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group, the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators Network, the BloodNet Pediatric Critical Care Blood Research Network, and the Groupe Francophone de Réanimation et Urgences P.

Funding: This trial was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Institutes Health Research, the French Ministry of Health, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services, Établissement Français du Sang, Groupe Francophone de Réanimation et d'Urgences Pédiatrique and Washington University in St Louis. All research at The Ottawa Hospital is also supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

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Jennifer Ganton
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Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
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