What is your recommendation for the use of a blood warmer to administer Octaplasma®?

Blood warmers are often used for rapid blood transfusion at a volume load of > 50 mL/kg/hr in hypothermic patients or for rare conditions where cold fluid delivery is problematic (e.g., cold agglutinins), as well as for massive transfusion to avoid hypothermia.

When blood warmers are used, for instance, in the case of previously thawed but refrigerated plasma, they should not bring any blood component to a temperature above the normal body temperature of +37°C, at which all the constituents of blood have their optimal quality and function. Higher temperatures may have a negative impact on the quality and efficacy of the product infused as well as the patients’ safety, e.g., with an increased coagulation time which is observed at temperatures of +40°C.

Most blood warmers have a free setting of the temperature between +37 and 41°C based on 0.5°C steps.

Octapharma does not have data regarding the use of a blood warmer device to administer Octaplasma^®. Therefore, Octapharma cannot recommend the use of Octaplasma^® for thawing or administration using devices that exceed +37 °C. If you are unsure about the temperature of a blood-warming device, do not use it to warm Octaplasma^®.