Thawing Fresh Frozen Plasma Using a Microwave Oven.
- Author:
Hyun Sook CHI
;
Seog Woon KWON
;
Joon NAH
- Publication Type:Original Article
- MeSH:
Blood Coagulation Factors;
Blood Proteins;
Emergencies;
Microwaves*;
Plasma*
- From:Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion
1995;6(2):217-223
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Thawing fresh frozen plasma(FFP) by waterbath(WB) requires about 30 minutes, which is too slow in emergency situations and carries the risk of bacterial contamination of FFP. To solve these problems, a new thawing method using a microwave oven(MWO) has been developed. Twenty units of equally divided plasma from 10 units of plasma were frozen, stored at -55 degrees C, and thawed in parallel using microwave oven or waterbath. Coagulation factors, plasma proteins and thawing time were measured. Except for antithrombin III(MWO: 85.2+/-6.94%, WB : 90.8+/-9.14%, p<0.05), no significant differences were observed in the 18 other coagulation parameters and the plasma proteins studied. Mean thawing time by MWO was 5.9 minutes per 1 unit, 10.4 minutes per 2 units and 12.5 minutes per 3 units; by WB, it was 19.0, 20.0 and 22.0 minutes, respectively. In conclusion, FFP can be thawed faster using a microwave oven than using 37 degrees C waterbath and the thawed plasma proteins were generally equivalent to those of FFP thawed by waterbath.
