Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine and Hemostasis

The UT Southwestern Medical Center transfusion medicine faculty is responsible for the medical direction of the transfusion services at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, Zale Lipshy Pavilion, and Parkland Hospital. The blood banks of both institutions provide essential transfusion testing but also have very specialized immunohematology reference services. The combined blood banks dispense approximately 40,000 units of packed red cells, 6,000 units of plasma, and 4,800 units of platelets annually.

Parkland Hospital has one of the largest Level I trauma services as well as one of the largest obstetrics program in the United States. The blood bank plays an integral role in maintaining these services. One of the first massive transfusion protocols (MTP) was designed and implemented at Parkland. It has formed the basis for MTPs which are now standard in most U.S. hospitals.

William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital and Zale Lipshy Pavilion are tertiary care facilities that serve as referral centers for complex patients from the entire North Texas region. They specialized in all types of solid-organ transplants, stem-cell transplantation, and cardiothoracic surgery. The complex nature of the patients creates unique challenges for the transfusion service

Patient blood management (PBM) is a critical part of transfusion services. For more than 15 years, UTSW has been a leader in the prospective management of plasma products (i.e. plasma, platelets and cryoprecipitate). Not only has this resulted in savings of millions of dollars for the institution, but more importantly has greatly improved patient safety by preventing unnecessary transfusions. Red cell utilization has increasingly become a critical component of PBM. For this reason, both hospitals are in the process of implementing physician notification as part of the electronic order process when red cell orders do not meet hospital transfusion guidelines.

Research is a vital part of the transfusion services of each hospital, typically as part of single or multi-institutional clinical trials. Currently active research involves use of pathogen-inactivated red blood cells, Group O, low-titer anti-A whole blood for use in trauma and maintenance of warm-perfused donor livers awaiting transplantation.