AABB Updates Monthly Platelet and Group O Supply Report With April 2022 Data

AABB has updated the Monthly Platelet and Group O Survey Report with April 2022 data.

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 information regarding inventory issues. 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 current report is based on data from the June 2021-April 2022 surveys of AABB institutional member blood centers and hospitals, representing 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 a decrease in platelet and group O red blood cell collections in April.

The average platelet wastage rates for blood centers decreased slightly in April, while the average platelet transfusion volume decreased. On the other hand, Group O-positive and O-negative RBC transfusion volumes at participating hospitals increased slightly.

The proportion of hospitals using a secondary supplier decreased between March and April. Only a small percentage of hospitals split platelet units to extend their inventory. Approximately 54.55 % of participating hospitals reported being unable to split platelet units in April.

In April, the percentage of hospitals in which an incomplete RBC order led to either a delay in patient care or a need to split units to fill transfusion orders was comparable to March 2022. However, the percentage of hospitals in which an incomplete platelet order led to either a delay in patient care or a need to split units to fill transfusion orders was higher in April than in March. Approximately 20-38% of respondents do not track this information.

AABB encourages members to review the entire report online. For questions regarding the monthly survey and participation, please contact Srijana Rajbhandary, AABB’s director of Research, at srajbhandary@aabb.org.