Blood-component therapy in children: Viva

Opening question: the principles and the doses

Blood-component therapy transfuses the specific component a child lacks at a weight-based dose, guided by the restrictive philosophy of patient blood management. One donation is centrifuged into four targeted components: red cells to carry oxygen, platelets to plug bleeding, fresh frozen plasma to supply clotting factors and cryoprecipitate to deliver fibrinogen. The per-kilogram doses are neonatal red-cell top-up typically 15 mL per kg, platelets 10 to 20 mL per kg, fresh frozen plasma 15 to 20 mL per kg and cryoprecipitate 5 to 10 mL per kg. About 4 mL per kg of red cells raises the haemoglobin by about 10 g per litre. ^[2]