Burn anemia represents a common complication following a burn injury. Burn anemia etiology carries distinct features occurring at each stage of the post-injury and treatment periods resulting from different causes. We aimed to analyze the use of blood components in Finnish burn victims and to identify patient- and injury-related factors influencing their use.
To study the use of blood products in burn patients, we used data collected from the Optimal Use of Blood registry, developed through co-operation between 10 major hospital districts and the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service. Burn patients ?18?years treated at the Helsinki University Hospital between 2005 and 2011 with an in-hospital stay ?1?day who received at least one transfusion during their hospital stay were included in this study.
Among all 558 burn patients, 192 (34%) received blood products during their hospital stay. The transfused cohort comprised 192 burn patients. The study cohort received a total of 6087?units of blood components, 2422?units of leukoreduced red blood cells, 1728?units of leukoreduced platelets, and 420?units of single-donor fresh frozen plasma or, after 2007, 1517?units of Octaplas(®) frozen plasma. All three types of blood components were administered to 29% of patients, whereas 45% received only red blood cells and 6% received only Octaplas. Transfused patients were significantly older (p?