DISCUSSION:
This case provides an opportunity to review the overall management of acute transfusion reactions. An acute or immediate reaction is diagnosed when symptoms occur during the infusion of blood or blood components, or up to 1-2 hours after the infusion is complete. Because a high index of suspicion must be maintained during transfusions, any acute symptoms should be attributed to the blood component until proven otherwise (1).
The following are the basic rules when confronted with a possible acute transfusion reaction, especially for possible hemolytic transfusion reactions (2):
Stop the transfusion immediately (while keeping intravenous access available)(1).
Check all labeling for misidentification of the patient or blood product.
Draw a new blood sample from the patient (free of hemolysis), and send it along with the remainder of the infused product and the transfusion set to the blood bank for inspection and analysis.
Examine (visual) the blood specimen for hemolysis and compare it to the pretransfusion blood sample.
Perform a direct AGT on the postreaction sample, and if positive, do a direct Agglutination (AGT) on the prereaction sample.
For possible or suspected septic complications of transfusion, a gram stain and culture of the suspected products are necessary (2). (Note: Any positive direct AGT requires further evaluation by the blood bank or a red cell reference laboratory for an antibody workup, and a positive culture or evidence of hemolysis must be reported immediately to the clinician).
The differential diagnosis of an acute transfusion reaction is currently divided into two broad categories as follows (1):