A preventive measure that reduces the risk of febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reactions when using whole blood, platelets, or packed red blood cells is which of the following?

A preventive measure that reduces the risk of febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reactions when using whole blood, platelets, or packed red blood cells is which of the following?

• A. Post-storage irradiation
• B. Prestorage leukocyte reduction
• C. Antibiotic pretreatment
• D. Temperature control

Answer: (B)

Febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reactions are mainly triggered by donor leukocytes and inflammatory cytokines that accumulate in stored blood. By removing most white blood cells before storage, prestorage leukocyte reduction lowers these triggers across all component types, so the risk of FNHTR is reduced for whole blood, platelets, and packed red blood cells. Other options target different issues: post-storage irradiation is to prevent transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease, not FNHTR; antibiotic pretreatment isn’t a reliable preventive measure for FNHTR and can introduce other risks; temperature control mainly guards against fever from bacterial contamination rather than FNHTR. Thus prestorage leukocyte reduction is the most effective preventive measure for FNHTR.

Febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reactions are mainly triggered by donor leukocytes and inflammatory cytokines that accumulate in stored blood. By removing most white blood cells before storage, prestorage leukocyte reduction lowers these triggers across all component types, so the risk of FNHTR is reduced for whole blood, platelets, and packed red blood cells. Other options target different issues: post-storage irradiation is to prevent transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease, not FNHTR; antibiotic pretreatment isn’t a reliable preventive measure for FNHTR and can introduce other risks; temperature control mainly guards against fever from bacterial contamination rather than FNHTR. Thus prestorage leukocyte reduction is the most effective preventive measure for FNHTR.