AABB’s Monthly Platelet and Group O Supply Report Now Includes March Data

AABB is pleased to announce that the Monthly Platelet and Group O Survey report now includes data from March 2022. AABB developed the report to help evaluate the state of the U.S. blood supply, with particular regard to platelets and group O red blood cell components. The survey questionnaire also includes inquiries regarding inventory issues. This report includes a filter (year) to separate 2021 and 2022 data.

The current report is based on data from the June 2021-March 2022 surveys of AABB institutional member blood centers and hospitals. The PDF of the current survey report, instructions to navigate the report and the data use request form are available on the report web page.

The overall blood collection data represent approximately 75% of the blood collected in the United States. The overall collections, as well as results from 14 blood centers that consistently reported data, showed an increase in platelet and group O red blood cell collections in March 2022. The average platelet wastage rates for blood centers increased slightly in March. The average platelet transfusion volume increased in March, reversing the downward trend observed since October 2021. The average Group O-positive and O-negative RBC transfusion volumes at participating hospitals also increased slightly in March.

The proportion of hospitals using a secondary supplier in March was comparable with that of February. Only a small percentage of hospitals split platelet units to extend their inventory. Approximately 49.14% of the participating hospitals reported not being able to split platelet units in March.

In March, the percentage of hospitals in which an incomplete RBC or platelet order led to either a delay in patient care or a need to split units to fill transfusion orders reached the lowest level since data collection began in June 2021. Approximately 20-38% of respondents do not track this information. AABB intends to update the data at regular intervals and hopes that, over time, the survey results will evolve and be an important source of data for AABB members and the larger transfusion medicine community. AABB is currently collecting data for the month of April 2022.

AABB also publishes Group O Blood Supply Report every week to provide estimates of nationwide average Group O supply. For questions regarding the monthly survey and participation, please contact Srijana Rajbhandary, AABB’s director of Research, at srajbhandary@aabb.org.