Study of suspected transfusion reactions to begin Jan. 1

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A new CAP Quality Practices study on rates and turnaround times for investigating and reporting suspected transfusion reactions will begin on Jan. 1, 2024. Enrollment is open now and will continue through Feb. 5, 2024.

The study will provide participating laboratories with information on the incidence and categories of transfusion reactions and the time required for initial and complete investigation. Laboratories will be asked to do the following:

• Provide data for the number of products transfused and the number of transfusion reactions during the previous year and during the three-month study period.
• Calculate the time required to perform the initial investigation to rule out a hemolytic transfusion reaction, and the time required to fully categorize and report the reaction in the medical record, for all suspected acute transfusion reactions during the three-month study period.
• Report what studies are performed, per protocol, as part of these investigations.

Laboratories in multi-institutional integrated health systems with standardized transfusion policies and procedures will be encouraged to report all suspected reactions in the entire system. The systems will then be provided with system-level data and, with sufficient levels of participation, a comparison with other system laboratories.

Richard Brown, MD, medical director of system laboratory services at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston and chair of the CAP Quality Practices Committee, designed the study, which is a program of the committee. “The goal of this study is to gather normative data on the turnaround time for the evaluation and reporting of transfusion reactions, as these data are lacking and national standards require ‘timely’ investigation without defining specific expectations,” he says. Determining if particular transfusion protocols (for example, universal leukoreduction) appear to impact the rate of transfusion reactions is another of the committee’s goals in offering this study.

To enroll, go to https://capatholo.gy/3FJNQpa and select QP241 or call 800-323-4040 option 1 (international calls: 1-847-832-7000 option 1).