Pretransfusion Testing and the Selection of Red Cell Products for Transfusion

The goal of pretransfusion compatibility testing is to ensure that serologically safe blood products are issued to the recipient. It is therefore crucial to accurately determine the recipient's blood type (ABO group, D type) and whether they have any unexpected red cell antibodies. The crossmatch ensures that an ABO‐compatible red cell has been selected for transfusion, and that the unit is antigen negative in the case of a recipient with an unexpected antibody. ABO‐ and D‐compatible platelets are preferable, but when these are not available, ABO‐ and D‐incompatible platelets may be used in adults. Under routine circumstances, plasma should be ABO compatible with the recipient, and AB plasma is the universal plasma donor group. The chapter shows the donor ABO groups that are compatible with the recipient's ABO group. For patients without antibodies, ABO compatibility is the only necessary compatibility consideration.