ASSOCIATION OF BLOOD SAMPLING WITH ANEMIA IN THE PEDIATRIC INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF ALEXANDRIA UNIVERSITY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

Abstract

IntroductionAnemia is frequently observed in children who are critically ill, roughly 33% of those admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) have anemia at the time of admission. In addition, another 41% of children are likely to develop anemia during their stay in the PICU. Overall, anemia affects around 75% of patients at some time during their critical illness. Anemia represents a prevalent complication among pediatric critical care patients.Blood loss, inflammation, hemolysis, and adherence to a restrictive transfusion strategy are various factors contributing to the onset. Notably, blood draws contribute to over 73% of the average daily blood loss of 5 mL in critically ill patients. Implementing blood conservation techniques to reduce the number of blood draws and the amount of blood taken and discarded are essential elements of a PBM program, to reduce the dangers of anemia and needless blood transfusions while simultaneously improving patient outcomes.