Clinical Practice Resources

​AABB, with the valued assistance of its expert member committees, develops a variety of resources to help guide professionals in keeping abreast of clinical issues in transfusion medicine.  AABB is a leader in producing clinical practice guidelines for utilization of blood components.  In addition, the association develops informational documents and guidance regarding a wide range of clinical and technical topics facing transfusion medicine providers. 

COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma: 2022 Clinical Practice Guidelines from AABB

Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, these guidelines reflect the most up-to-date published evidence available, and replace the interim recommendations from early 2021. The AABB Board of Directors commissioned a committee of experts to draft clinical practice guidelines. Consistent with previous clinical practice guidelines from AABB, the committee performed a formal systematic review and meta-analysis of the data and used GRADE methodology to formulate the current recommendations. The committee focused exclusively on randomized clinical trial data to minimize the risk of bias.

Red Blood Cell Transfusion: 2016 Clinical Practice Guidelines from the AABB

Updated to reflect the most up-to-date published evidence available, these guidelines provide pragmatic advice to assist clinicians in making decisions about the use of red blood cell transfusions. Published online in October 2016 in the “Journal of the American Medical Association,” the guidelines recommend the use of more restrictive hemoglobin thresholds for transfusion and standard-issue rather than “fresh” RBCs.

Clinical Practice Guidelines

• Clinical Practice Guidelines From the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB): COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma | Annals of Internal Medicine (acpjournals.org)
• Clarifying the Emergency Use Authorization Framework for COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma: Considerations for Clinicians – Prepared Jointly by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and AABB
• Red Blood Cell Transfusion: 2016 Clinical Practice Guidelines from the AABB (Journal of the American Medical Association; October 12, 2016)
  
• Platelet Transfusion: A Clinical Practice Guideline from the AABB (Annals of Internal Medicine; November 11, 2014)      
  
• Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines for Plasma Transfusion (TRANSFUSION 2010;50:1227-39)
  

Guidance

• THOR-AABB Working Party Recommendations for a Prehospital Blood Product Transfusion Program
• Quality Toolkit
  
  • Introduction
  • Check Sheet
  • Pareto Chart
  • Fishbone Diagram
  • Flowchart
  • Histogram
  • Control Chart
  • 5 Whys
• Guidance to Standard 5.14.5 of the Standards for Blood Banks and Transfusion Services
• The Plasmapedia - A Comprehensive Review of All Available Plasma Products (members-only content)
  
• Recommendations from AABB’s Clinical Transfusion Medicine Committee on Sterile Saline Shortage (0.9% NaCl Solution)
  
• Questions and Answers About Pathogen-Reduced Apheresis Platelet Components
  
• Association Bulletin #16-02 - Mitigating the Anti-CD38 Interference with Serologic Testing
  
• Association Bulletin #15-02 - Transfusion-Associated Circulatory Overload (TACO)
  
• Association Bulletin #14-04 - Clinical Recognition and Investigation of Suspected Bacterial Contamination of Platelets
  
• Association Bulletin #14-02 - TRALI Risk Mitigation for Plasma and Whole Blood for Allogeneic Transfusion
  
• Information Piece: Alternatives to Transfusable Single-Donor Plasma Components
  
• Joint Statement on Phasing-In RHD Genotyping for Pregnant Women and Other Females of Childbearing Potential with a Serologic Weak D Phenotype
  
• Infection Control for Handling Specimens from Suspected Ebola Patients