RESUMO
PURPOSE: Low-birth-weight(LBW) neonates often need multiple transfusions during their neonatal period. The routine use of the 500ml mono-bag system in Korea, even in neonatal transfusions, results in a great waste of blood and exposes the neonate to multiple blood donors. To reduce the waste of blood and the number of exposures, we used quadruple blood bags in the transfusion of LBW neonates. METHODS: From November 1995 to April 1997, 86 neonates weighing less than 2,000gm were enrolled in this study. Forty-four of those neonates needed blood transfusions. Using quadruple blood bags, we were able to safely make 3 units of packed red blood cell(RBC) from each directed donors. RESULTS: Seventy-seven units of packed RBC could be made from 29 directed donors and 58 of those units were actually transfused to the 25 neonates. Blood age of the directed donor blood prepared in the quadruple blood bags were relatively older than those of bank bloods at the time of transfusion, thus, K+ concentration was higher but the total K+ amounts infused through transfusions were within tolerable ranges in both groups. CONCLUSION: Using quadruple blood bag in the transfusion of LBW neonates, we could reduce the number of donor exposures and also the waste of blood. K+ loads to the neonates through the transfusion of directed donor blood were within tolerable range in the neonatal physiology.