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Review
. 2017 Aug 15:5:24.
doi: 10.1186/s41038-017-0090-z. eCollection 2017.

Children are not little adults: blood transfusion in children with burn injury

Tina L Palmieri  1
Affiliations
Review

Children are not little adults: blood transfusion in children with burn injury

Tina L Palmieri. Burns Trauma. .

Abstract

Blood transfusion in burns larger than 20% total body surface area (TBSA) are frequent due to operative procedures, blood sampling, and physiologic response to burn injury. Optimizing the use of blood transfusions requires an understanding of the physiology of burn injury, the risks and benefits of blood transfusion, and the indications for transfusion. Age also plays a role in determining blood transfusion requirements. Children in particular have a different physiology than adults, which needs to be considered prior to transfusing blood and blood products. This article describes the physiologic differences between children and adults in general and after burn injury and describes how these differences impact blood transfusion practices in children.

Keywords: Blood transfusion; Burn injury; Pediatric.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The author declares that she has no competing interests.

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