The Anemia Emergence and Blood Transfusion Possibility Following Phlebotomy in Critical Care Units

Introduction and Objective: anemia is inter alia the common findings in the critical care units. Although numerous factors lead to anemia in CCUs, but, since repeated phlebotomies for performing laboratory tests are factors contributing to the anemia emergence, the aim of this study was to determine the anemia emergence and the possibility to perform blood transfusions following phlebotomy in CCUs of educational hospitals of Urmia University of Medical Sciences. Method: the present study has been conducted based on prospective observations in critical care units of educational hospitals of Urmia University of Medical Sciences. In the present study, first of all, the patients qualifying the entry to the examinations including a period of one week stay in the hospital were selected to undergo further tests. The entire information pertaining to the patients’ admission time, their demographic information and admission prognostications as well as the background ailments and the other relevant information like hemoglobin count at the admission time, the patients’ daily hemoglobin rates and patient’s reception of any transfusion and the patients’ daily phlebotomy volume of blood were recorded in three work shifts. The results were analyzed through taking advantage of statistical tests like frequency distribution, central indices and independent t-test in SPSS software. Results: Out of the ۱۰۰ patient participants of the present study, ۵۴ patients were males and ۴۶ patients were females. Some ۶۴% of the patients had been admitted to anemia critical care units and almost ۹۷% of the patients had been found with anemia after a ۳۰-day stay in the hospital. Some ۵۷% of the patients had received blood during their stays in the CCUs. The average volume of the patients’ daily phlebotomy in the blood-receiving group was ۹.۵۳±۱.۲۸ ml and it was ۷.۷±۲.۳۰ ml in the patients with no blood transfusion. The difference was reported statistically significant (P<۰.۰۰۱). The highest rate of phlebotomy rate (۶۰%) was in night shift and the highest rate of requested phlebotomy (۵۵.۵۰%) was applied in biochemistry examinations. Discussion and Conclusion: a high percentage of the patients had anemia upon their admission to CCU; moreover, over ۹۰% of the patients expressed anemia symptoms after a long-term stay. Repeated blood sampling for performing the laboratory examinations were pinpointed amongst the important factors that had led to anemia in the CCUs. Thus, in line with reducing this risky trend in the CCUs, the patients had to be monitored more carefully in terms of the real rates of the tests (repeated blood sampling) and treatment parallel to compensating the symptoms resulting from anemia.

Keywords:

anemia , phlebotomy , blood transfusions , critical care units