Posted June 28, 20178 yr comment_70190 Hello all, it is possible to transfuse red cells even if the patient is febrile?
June 28, 20178 yr comment_70199 It's definitely possible. Many our patients are running a fever for one reason or another. It's up to the physician to transfuse, as it is for any other patient, acutely ill or not. Scott
June 29, 20178 yr comment_70209 Some of our cancer patients are transfused while febrile. They can go with a fever for days, so rarely, they have to transfuse in the face of the fever. Impossible to determine if they might have a febrile reactions on top of the fever. The RNs look for the rest of the signs and symptoms possible in transfusion reactions.
July 3, 20178 yr comment_70229 We transfuse febrile patients regularly. The nurses look for an elevation in temperature (1.5 C) above the starting temp to call a febrile reaction. I don't feel that we are doing a large number of workups simply because the patient transfusion started with an elevated temp.
July 21, 20177 yr comment_70368 On 7/3/2017 at 0:22 PM, AMcCord said: We transfuse febrile patients regularly. The nurses look for an elevation in temperature (1.5 C) above the starting temp to call a febrile reaction. I don't feel that we are doing a large number of workups simply because the patient transfusion started with an elevated temp. Agree with AMcord; we also learnt to check how and where the temperature was taken, i.e. ensure the same method and location was used before and during transfusion. We would sometimes see first temp under the armpit, second oral and so on. Catch this early and several febrile reaction workups were avoided, often enough to be worth the effort of checking the method.
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