Journal Club: Pros and cons: The use of group A plasma in massive hemorrhage protocols

Presented by:

Dr. Catherine Dubé
Transfusion Medicine Physician Trainee
University of Toronto

Objectives:

1.    Understand the various considerations related to transfusion of ABO-incompatible plasma products.
2.    Review existing evidence on the use of group A plasma in urgent transfusion.
3.    Examine areas of uncertainty associated with this practice and highlight potential for future research.

References:

1.    Dunbar NM and Yazer MT, on behalf of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion (BEST) Collaborative and the STAT Study Investigators. Safety of the use of group A plasma in trauma: the STAT study. Transfusion 2017;57;1879–1884.
2.    Stevens WT et al. Incompatible type A plasma transfusion in patients requiring massive transfusion protocol: Outcomes of an Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma multicenter study. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2017;83(1):25-29.
3.    Seheult JN, Dunbar NM, Hess JR, et al. Transfusion of blood components containing ABO-incompatible plasma does not lead to higher mortality in civilian trauma patients. Transfusion. 2020;60:2517–2528.

Note: The session is a self-approved group learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

To register for the LearnTransfusion series, send an email to learn.transfusion@blood.ca with  “Weekly Transfusion Medicine Seminars” in the subject line. Include your name and complete e-mail address in the body of the e-mail, and confirm that you would like to register for the LearnTransfusion series. You will then receive weekly email notifications of upcoming series events with details on how to join the webinars (e.g., call-in number and a link to register for the webinar).

The LearnTransfusion series is the seminar component of the Areas of Focused Competency (AFC)-Diploma Program in Transfusion Medicine. The series, organized by Canadian Blood Services is also open to all practitioners in the field of Transfusion Medicine. Through a series of regular webinars, trainees and practitioners are exposed to various scientific, technical and clinical aspects of transfusion medicine.