An audit of appropriate use of blood products in adult patients in a Venezuelan general university hospital

Abstract

The main conclusions of this study are: (i) the prevalence of the appropriate use of blood products was 51%; (ii) packed red cells and fresh frozen plasma were the blood products with the lowest prevalence of appropriate use; and (iii) none of the departments showed rates of appropriate use of transfusions greater than 80%, implying a higher cost in health care and putting patients at a higher risk for acquiring a transfusion-transmitted disease.