There has been a minor update to Blood Administration Guidelines. Following feedback from members, the Clinical Transfusion Practice Committee and ANZSBT Council reviewed current practice and evidence for co-administration of albumin with blood components and medications. Significant differences in information provided by manufacturers of blood components, medications and 5% albumin were found, with the latter varying from longstanding practice and ANZSBT advice on the use of 4% albumin. No rationale for this change or evidence to indicate harm from 5% rather than 4% albumin could be found. Prohibition of albumin 5% co-administration with fresh blood products could severely impact patients in the limited circumstances where this is established practice. Similarly, prohibiting mixing of albumin 5% with certain medications (where appropriate evidence exists) could restrict access or require alternate preparations of albumin to be sourced for this very limited use.
The Guideline update continues to support albumin co-administration with red cells irrespective of albumin concentration. Additional guidance on managing conflicts between prescriber information for medications and manufactured plasma components is provided . Changes can be found in 6.6.1 and 6.6.3.
Access the update from the Guidelines page.