Benefits of leukoreduction of blood components and its main instructions: integrative review

Blood transfusions are used to treat potentially life-threatening medical conditions and health problems in a short space of time. However, transfusions can produce adverse events, some of which may be related to immune system responses or the transmission of infectious agents (e.g., HCV, HTLV-I/II, HBV, and human immunodeficiency virus). Leukoreduction is a process in which white blood cells are intentionally removed from donated blood to minimize the risk of adverse reactions in individuals receiving a blood transfusion. This is an integrative review of the literature carried out in the electronic databases BVS, Scielo and Pubmed from 2003 to 2024. Using inclusion, exclusion and eligibility criteria, sixteen articles were selected for discussion. The review showed that although the benefits of leukocyte removal to reduce infectious and non-infectious complications in all types of transfused patients are evident, the adoption of universal leukocyte removal is not fully implemented in medical transfusion practice, especially due to the high cost of the filters.