Prevention of anemia in premature babies: transfusions with erythropoietin. Hospital of San José, 2006-2008

Prevención de anemia en prematuros: transfusiones con eritropoyetina. Hospital de San José, 2006-2008

Therapy with erythropoietin has not yet been well defined and its routine use varies according to the criteria of each neonatal unit. At the Hospital de San José the prevention of anemia of prematurity has been changing over time. Objective: to determine the frequency of transfusions according to the treatment administered to preterm infants in the intermediate care unit of the Hospital of San José in the 2006-2008 period. Methodology: an observational, descriptive and longitudinal study was carried out. We reviewed 115 medical records, of which 34 patients were obtained who met the inclusion criteria. Results: of the patients who were administered erythropoietin, 4.76% required transfusion and of those who did not receive it, 46.1% required at least one. Among those with corrected gestational age less than or equal to 30 weeks who received 50% erythropoietin did not require RT, and without the use of 50% they were transfused. With gestational age greater than 30 weeks and use of erythropoietin, 92.3% did not require RT and 71.3% did not use it. Conclusion: it can be thought that the use of erythropoietin decreases the need for RT of red blood cells. Abbreviations: ERTP, erythropoietin; TR, transfusion (s); RN, newborn (s).

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