Pro-Inflammatory Load and Quality Assessment of Red Blood Cell Concentrates Produced at the Yaounde University Hospital Blood Bank for Good Transfusion Practices

Blood transfusion is one of the most sensitive activities in a healthcare system. It is therefore vital to ensure the quality of the various labile blood products (LBP), which is why we were interested in the quality of the red blood cells (CGR) produced at the Yaoundé University Hospital Centre (CHUY). The study was prospective and descriptive, cross-sectional, and involved 150 RGCs. It took place from November 2023 to February 2024, with a collection period from March 2024 to June 2024. Our study focused on erythrocyte concentrates from labile blood products prepared and qualified by the CHUY blood bank. Erythrocyte concentrates judged valid after serological analysis and ready for distribution to the patient were included in this study. Expired RGCs, RGCs with cracked bags, RGCs containing clots and haemolysed RGCs were excluded from the study. We were able to obtain 150 samples, the majority from men (131, 87.33%) and only 19 from women (17.67%). The bags included were weighed to determine the volume of their contents. Haemoglobin and haematocrit were determined using the HumaCount 5D automated system. The accuracy and precision of the automated system were checked to ensure the reliability of the data analysed. Statistical analyses were performed using Excel graphpad 5.03 software. Of the RGCs obtained, 87.33% were from men and 17.67% from women. However, the majority were volunteers (92.66%). Nevertheless, 98.67%, 52.67% and 43.33% were compliant for volume, haemoglobin and haematocrit respectively. Considering the three parameters simultaneously, the compliance rate was 81.35% for male RGCs compared with 66.66% for female RGCs, and 86.66% for volunteer donor RGCs compared with 61.54% for family donor RGCs. In the course of this study, quality control enabled us to highlight non-compliances in the RGCs prepared and to make assumptions about the shortcomings in order to verify and remedy them. However, achieving a good percentage in terms of the quality of RGCs is an objective that can easily be achieved through vigilant and rigorous application of good transfusion practice. For this reason, it would be important for staff to be qualified and trained on an ongoing basis. It would therefore be enviable to broaden the scope of action by carrying out a similar study in all blood banks to assess all the problems linked to the quality of RGCs in order to find solutions. Ongoing staff training is recommended, as is their involvement in the establishment's quality policy. Continue to encourage the loyalty of blood donors, as blood from loyal donors offers greater transfusion safety, and extract all the plasma during the preparation of RGCs in order to correct the volume of the latter, and finally use anticoagulant solutions such as SAG-M.