Transfusion filters

[Kathy3171]

I have just been asked by one of the nurses how often does the transfusion tubing need to be changed and if it is the same for red blood cells, FFP and apheresed platelets. I looked on the box of the transfusion set and I can't find anything as far as the number of units. One of the component infusion set boxes states to discard after 24 hours. We currently have a policy that says to use a blood infusion set for no more than 2 units but does that apply to other components as well? Any help would be appreciated.

[janet]

A couple years ago I researched this......our Canadian standard (and AABB I believe) state "24 hours or as recommended by manufacturer". We use Baxter and when contacted they told me verbally 4 hours ...if you think about how long we allow a unit to be infused to prevent bacterial proliferation the 4 hour limit makes sense.

[John C. Staley]

I believe our current protocol is 2 units or 4 hours, which ever comes first.

[AMcCord]

Our policy is the same as John's.

[DeeMc]

It is interesting that the AABB Technical Manual says to refer to the manufacturer's instructions for filter use information and the manufacturer's instructions now state refer to the facility's policies.

As a follow up question, do you allow different components to be transfused through one filter (ie PRBCs followed by Platelets)?

[AMcCord]

We use a different type of filter for Plts, so no, we would not follow a red cell infusion with a unit of Plts. FFP is infused with the same filter as red cells. As long as the 2 units or 4 hours rule is followed, FFP and red cells would be OK with the same infusion set.