Transfusion of blood products in dogs: a retrospective study

Abstract

The objective of this study was to perform a retrospective analysis of transfusions that were given to dogs in the year 2018 at the Small Animal Clinic of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University. A total of 87 dogs were included in this study, which together accounted for a total of 140 received transfusions. The number of packed red blood cell transfusions (n = 85) was three times higher than that of fresh frozen plasma (n = 28) or fresh whole blood (n = 27) administrations. Primary immune-mediated hemolytic anemia was diagnosed most frequently and, in comparison with previous studies, anticoagulant rodenticide intoxication was seen in a remarkably high number of dogs receiving blood products. Transfusion reactions were noted in 23.2% of transfusions, with fever occurring most frequently