Control of acidosis during exchange transfusion with citrated blood.

In a previous paper (Calladine et al., 1965) it was shown that during exchange transfusion with citrated blood an acidosis often developed in babies transfused on the first day of life, but not in those transfused on the third day or later. The acidosis in the babies concerned was sometimes severe, and was occasionally associated with clinical symptoms. It was concluded that in performing exchange transfusion on the first day of life, it would be logical to offset the tendency to acidosis, for instance, by adding sodium bicarbonate to the donor blood. Barrie (1965) has since described this approach; our own results reported here have led to conclusions that differ only in a quantitative respect from his.