The effect of the proportion of low-titer O whole blood for resuscitation in pediatric trauma patients on 6-, 12- and 24-hour survival

INTRODUCTION Hemorrhage is a leading cause of death in pediatric patients. Accumulating data suggest that low-titer group O whole blood (LTOWB) improves clinical outcomes in the pediatric population. We examined what ratio of LTOWB to total blood product conferred a survival benefit in transfused pediatric trauma patients. METHODS We retrospectively examined a cohort of injured subjects younger than 18 years from the Trauma Quality Improvement Program database who received any quantity of LTOWB and no documented prehospital cardiac arrest. We created a variable representing the volume of transfused LTOWB divided by the total volume of all transfused blood products administered within the first 4 hours of admission, that is, the proportion of LTOWB transfused. We analyzed increasing proportions of transfused LTOWB to determine whether there was an inflection point conferring increased survival. RESULTS From 2020 to 2022, 1,122 subjects were included in the analysis. The median (interquartile range) age was 16 (14-17) years. Firearms were the most common mechanism at 47% followed by collisions at 44%. The median composite injury severity score was 25 (16-34). Survival was 91% at 6 hours, 89% at 12 hours, and 88% at 24 hours. We noted an inflection point with improved survival at an LTOWB proportion of ≥30% of total volume of blood products received. The odds of survival at 6, 12, and 24 hours for those receiving ≥30% LTOWB was 1.85 (1.02-3.38), 2.09 (1.20-3.36), and 1.80 (1.06-3.08), and 3.55 (1.66-7.58), 3.71 (1.89-7.27), and 2.69 (1.44-5.02) when excluding those who died within 1 hour, respectively. CONCLUSION Among LTOWB recipients, we found that a strategy of using LTOWB comprising at least 30% of the total transfusion volume within the first 4 hours was associated with improved survival at 6, 12, and 24 hours.