Determining the optimal time for post-transfusion hematocrit measurement
Keywords:
erythrocyte transfusion, hematocrit, patient care, reproducibility of resultsAbstract
Introduction: It is traditional to measure hematocrit between 6 and 24 hours after red blood cell transfusion, but this practice lacks solid bibliographic support.
Objective: To determine the optimal time (30 min, 6 h, 24 h) to measure hematocrit in post-transfusion follow-up.
Method: A prospective, longitudinal, observational study of technological evaluation was conducted between February and April 2025. Sixty-seven adult patients who received transfusions were included. Hematocrit was measured at 30 minutes, 6 hours, and 24 hours post-transfusion. Statistical analysis included the Friedman test, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and the Bland-Altman plot.
Results: The series included 67 patients (27 men and 40 women) with no significant differences in distribution by sex or age group (19 to 59 years: 31.3%; 60 to 74 years: 37.4%; 75 years and older: 31.3%; p = 0.321). No significant differences were found in hematocrit values between the three time points (Friedman test, F = 0.363). All ICCs were greater than 0.8, indicating excellent agreement, with the highest agreement between measurements at 30 minutes and 6 hours (ICC = 0.897). Bland-Altman analysis showed a close mean difference between these two time points, with no systematic bias.
Conclusion: Hematocrit measurement at 30 minutes post-transfusion is adequate and reliable for representing the effect of the transfused unit; it shows excellent agreement with subsequent measurements.
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References
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Copyright (c) 2026 Leydiana Trimiño Galindo, Junior Vega Jiménez, Rubén González Tabares, Layanis Guardarrama Linares, Lisneybi González González
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