During the past 20 years, many serological tests have been eliminated or abbreviated because they were found to enhance patient safety. Examples include:

Minor crossmatch
Antiglobulin crossmatch unless antibody screen is positive or patient has a history of clinically significant antibody
Auto-control (DAT) for pretransfusion testing
Weak D (Du) testing on everybody except cord bloods
Multiple antibody panels under different conditions
Cold antibody screens for open heart surgery
Reduced number of repeat panels on patients with known antibody
Antigen typing for clinically insignificant antibodies (e.g. Le, M, P)
R-set instead of full panel for positive antibody screens in patients who may have received Rh immune globulin
Elutions unless transfused within last 3 months
Anti-A, and anti-B testing to confirm group O units
Repeat Rh typing of Rh positive units (only confirm Rh negative units)
Direct antiglobulin tests only on cord blood from infants born to Rh negative women.
Elutions on cord blood with positive DAT

Laboratory workload continues to increase and transfusion services are increasingly being asked to reduce their operational costs. Unnecessary testing that does not contribute to transfusion safety should be eliminated..

Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 July 2011