Should you use FFP in your critically ill veterinary patients? | VETgirl Veterinary Continuing Education Podcasts

In general, human and veterinary patients are administered FFP for two major reasons: either to stop active bleeding, or to prevent it. Interestingly, the use of FPP in human medicine continues to grow, and a large proportion of patients receive it for prolonged clotting times alone, even though they don’t have evidence of clinical bleeding or a perceived risk of clinical bleeding.1,2 These critically ill patients are of particular interest in both human and veterinary medicine, since little evidence exists to support giving them FFP, yet many of us continue to do it. Not only is FFP transfusion costly, it is also associated with risks, including reactions that can range from mild to life-threatening, transfusion-associated cardiac overload (TACO), and transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). Because of these reasons, it is important to understand when we should – and when we shouldn’t – administer FFP to our patients.