Data on the Spanish population, blood donations, and transfusions from 1994 to 2011 were analyzed to assess trends in plasma collection and use. While plasma collection increased over 77% during this period, the use of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) for transfusion decreased by 5% when adjusted for population changes. The rate of FFP transfusions per 1000 people decreased 17.4% and the ratio of FFP to red blood cell transfusions fell 37.4%, suggesting a shift toward more appropriate indications for and use of plasma.

1. Data of the Spanish population were obtained from the National Institute of Statistics.
Data in blood component donation and transfusion from the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consume.
Recent studies alert about a possible blood stock breakout in the next future, and the epidemiological information is
useful in planning the production and assessing the efficiency of blood product use.
While plasma donation is still necessary as an unique source of human proteins, several studies have alerted on
inadequate or excessive use of fresh frozen plasma (FFP), meta-analysis have found no benefit from FFP transfusion in
a host of clinical scenarios, and institutional audits have shown FFP administration to have the highest rate of
inappropriate indication.
We assesed the evolution of plasma use in Spain, by reviewing the Spanish data on population, plasma donation and
FFP transfusion from 1994 to 2011.
Evolution of plasma collection and plasma
transfusion
in Spain (1994 – 2011)
José Antonio García-Erce1
, Manuel Quintana2
, Manuel Muñoz3
1
Haematology, Hospital San Jorge, Huesca; 2
Intensve Care and Emergencies, University Hospital “La Paz”,
Madrid; 3
Transfusion Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Málaga, Málaga (Spain).
INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVE
 Along the study period, the progressive increase in plasma collection was accompanied by a progressive decrease in
FFP use, as assessed by FFP transfusion per 1000 population and FFP-to-RBC transfusion ratio.
 Whether the observed reduction in FFP use is due to a more appropriate indication, the implementation of massive
transfusion protocols and/or the increasing use of prothrombin complex concentrates deserve further investigation.
Between 1994 and 2011, plasma collection increased from 242540 L to 431150 L (77.8%), but FFP use decreased from
55443 L to 52701 L (-5%).
When adjusted by population change, FFP transfusion per 1000 population per year decreased from 1.38 L to 1.14 L (-
17.4%) in this period. Similarly, the ratio of FFP units transfused per 100 Red Blood Cell Concentrate (RBC) units
transfused decreased from 21.4% in 1994 to 13.4% in 2011 (-37.4%) (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Evolution of plasma collection and transfusion from 1994 to 2011
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PATIENTS & METHODS
RESULTS
COMMENTARIES
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