Researchers have found that transfusions using fresh red blood cells—cells that have spent seven days or less in storage—are no more beneficial than older red blood cells in reducing the risk of organ failure or death in critically ill children.

The findings, the researchers said, should reassure doctors that the standard practice of using older red cells is just as safe and effective in these children, who are among the sickest and most fragile of patients.

The study, one of the largest clinical trials to investigate red blood cell storage in critically ill children, sheds light on a controversial aspect of transfusion medicine that has been understudied.

It was funded in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the findings will appear online on Dec. 10 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Read More