Improvement of the In-hospital Inventory Period of Red Blood Cells by Reducing the Inventory Levels in the Hospital Blood Bank

Choi, Seung Jun; Kim, Sinyoung; Kim, Hyun Ok

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The clinical importance of transfusing older RBCs versus newer RBCs remains controversial, with some studies identifying adverse consequences and others have not. We evaluated the age of RBCs transfused in a Korean tertiary hospital and the improvement of the in-hospital inventory period by reducing the level of inventory in the hospital blood bank.
METHODS
The packed RBCs that were issued from November 14th, 2009 to November 13th, 2010 were analyzed. The inventory level was reduced in May 14th, 2010. We compared the total inventory period, the in-hospital inventory period and the pre-delivery period between before inventory reduction and after inventory reduction.
RESULTS
The in-hospital inventory period of the packed RBCs was significantly shortened after inventory reduction (6.0 day vs. 4.0 day, P<0.0001). Because the pre-delivery period was prolonged due to a temporary increase of blood donations, the total inventory period was not shortened.
CONCLUSION
This study provides that the in-hospital inventory period can be improved by reducing the inventory levels in the hospital, but further studies are required to decide what the adequate inventory levels should be.