Congratulations to General Surgery Resident Harold Leraas, MD, who will present his abstract, “Balanced RBC to plasma ratio is associated with decreased mortality risk in pediatric trauma patients receiving massive transfusion,” during the 2018 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition.
Dr. Leraas’ research examines the national use of massive transfusion protocols in children in order to identify patterns of blood product administration. “We were able to identify a large variance in the administration of blood products,” he says. “Patients who received balanced administration of blood products in this setting had better outcomes.”
A balanced transfusion maintains a 1:1:1 ratio of plasma, platelets, and red blood cells.
“In practice, it appears that despite recent efforts to develop pediatric massive transfusion protocols, few patients are receiving balanced transfusion,” says Dr. Leraas. “We hope that our analysis will demonstrate the importance of adhering to this practice and help to develop better massive transfusion protocols for use in critically injured children.”
Dr. Leraas will present at the AAP Conference this November in Orlando, FL.