University of Maryland School of Medicine logo
Emergency Medicine
All Departments
UMSOM Assistant
UMEM Educational Pearls
  • Home
  • Departments
  • Emergency Medicine
  • CME
  • UMEM Educational Pearls
  • CME
  • Courses and Conferences
  • Free Open Access Medical Education
  • UMEM Educational Pearls

Search

Title: Pediatric whole blood transfusion in trauma

Category: Pediatrics

Keywords: trauma, blood, pediatric (PubMed Search)

Posted: 7/18/2025 by Jenny Guyther, MD (Updated: 7/21/2026)

Trauma is a leading cause of death in pediatric patients.  The  Pediatric Traumatic Hemorrhagic Shock Consensus Conference Recommendations have stated that blood products are better than crystalloid and recommend the use of low titer type O whole blood (LTOWB) over individual components for pediatric traumatic resuscitation.

This study used the Trauma Quality Improvement Program Database to look at 1122 pediatric patients (< 18 years) over a 3 year period to retrospectively examine the impact of the ratio of whole blood and blood products given during the resuscitation of these patients. When at least 30% of the blood products delivered within the first 4 hours of resuscitation were low titer O whole blood, survival improved at the 6, 12 and 24 hour time mark.
 

The authors concluded that the observed survival benefit supports the greater availability and use of LTOWB during pediatric trauma resuscitation.

References

Fisher AD, April MD, Yazer MH, Wright FL, Cohen MJ, Maqbool B, Getz TM, Braverman MA, Schauer SG. An analysis of the effect of low titer O whole blood (LTOWB) proportions for resuscitation after trauma on 6-hour and 24-hour survival. Am J Surg. 2024 Nov;237:115900. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.115900. Epub 2024 Aug 13. PMID: 39168048.


University of Maryland School of Medicine logo
  • Departments
  • Programs
  • Research Centers
  • Institutes
  • Graduate Education
  • CIBR Cores
  • Offices of the Dean
    • University of Maryland, Baltimore
    • University of Maryland Medical Center
    • Medical Alumni Association of the University of Maryland
    • Health Sciences and Human Services Library
University of Maryland School of Medicine
655 W. Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Contact Us

© University of Maryland School of Medicine

    • Webmaster
    • Web Accessibility
    • Site Index
    • UMB Hotline
    • Employment
    • Map