Abstract:

Objective: To study the value of microcolumn gel technique in safe blood transfusion. Methods: Altogether 6 630 patients who needed blood transfusion from July 2014 to June 2019 were selected for irregular antibody screening and cross matching test by microcolumn gel method, and the results were compared with those of the polybrene method. Results: All 6 630 patients were screened by microcolumn gel method, and 35 cases had irregular antibody detected, the detection rate of irregular antibody was 0.53% (35/6 630); whereas the detection rate of irregular antibody by polybrene method was 0.39%(26/6 630), there was no significant difference between the two methods (P>0.05). All 6 630 patients were cross-matched by microcolumn gel method, the failure rate was 0.72% (48/6 630); when cross-matched by polybrene method, the failure rate was 0.45% (30/6 630); the difference between the two methods was statistically significant (P<0.05). Of the 49 cases with failure of cross-matching, the cross-test by microcolumn gel method showed failure in 48 cases; 1 case was showed by the polybrene method only, antibody identification had not revealed the specificity. The sensitivity of cross matching by microcolumn gel method was 97.96% ( 48/49), which was significantly higher than that by polybrene method (61.22%, 30/49). The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions: The microcolumn gel technology has high sensitivity, easy for standardization, with clear and accurate results, easy for interpretation, and has important application value for ensuring safety of blood transfusion. However, the polybrene method is rapid and simple, also has high sensitivity, and is suitable for emergency treatment. Appropriate method should be selected according to patient's condition on the premise of ensuring the safety of blood transfusion. Conditions allowing the two methods to verify each other would ensure the safety and effectiveness of blood transfusion.

Key words: Cross matching, Microcolumn gel technique, Polybrene method, Irregular blood group antibody