Abstract
In the survey conducted in 2012, among the 11,348 Japanese institutions receiving blood supply from the Japanese Red Cross Blood Center (JRCBC), the 4,812 institutions, which responded to the questionnaire, were enrolled. Except for the appointment of the doctor responsible for the management of transfusion, more than 90% of the large institutions (more than 300 beds) achieved the establishment of blood managing system. In cases of small institutions (less than 300 beds), however, only 50 to 70% of them achieved it and no significant improvement was observed in the last 5 years. Especially, the appointment rate of the doctor responsible for the management of transfusion was as low as 50.3%. Compared to the fiscal year 2008, the number of red blood cells, platelets products and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) used per number of beds in the fiscal year 2012 has increased by 15.6%, 21.5% and 30.1%, respectively. 2-5 times regional variations in the amount of blood product usage (red blood products by 2.1 times, platelet products by 4.1 times, FFP by 4.4 times, albumin by 4.1 times and IVIG by 5.1 times) was observed. It is an important issue to promote the establishment of blood managing system in the small institutions, which account for 90% of all transfusions, and is also critical to decrease the differences in the use of blood products between regional institutions.
