In: Nursing
You started a transfusion of PRBCs. Your patient complains of shortness of breath and itching. Document the series of events and the actions that you took.
Antibodies in the recipient blood can attack the donor blood if two are not compatible.If the recipient's immune system attacks the red blood cells of the donor,it is called hemolytic reaction.Symptoms can be observed as back pain,chills,fever,shortness of breath and itching.This reaction type is often treated with antihistamines to treat iching and hives.In rare instances,bacteris may be present in the donated blood.Giving this contaminated blood to a recipient can lead to infection,shock and death.Most probably to avoid such cases it is better to pretest the blood sample that has to be transfered to the donor.
If the person or family members or the medical provider observes blood transfusion reactions symptoms,the transfusion is immediately stopped.A laboratory representative should come and draw blood from the recipient and take the blood for testing to ensure that they are matched properly.Transfusion reactions can vary in severity.Some symptoms can be mild and treated with acetaminophen to reduce any pain or fever.The doctor should also prescribe intravenous fluids or medications to reduce the likelihood of shock.