Study objective: To determine if intramedullary aspirate from intraosseous needle placement can be used as a source for evaluating blood compatibility.
Design: A prospective, nonrandomized, crossover study.
Setting/participants: Patients admitted to the hematology/oncology service undergoing bone marrow aspiration for medical purposes.
Interventions: Patients had simultaneous samples of bone marrow aspiration from the posterior iliac crest and peripheral venous blood drawn and sent for typing and screening.
Measurements and main results: The paired samples were evaluated for ABO and Rh typing as well as the presence of human leukocyte activity by evaluating the reaction strength between the marrow and venous samples.
Results: No differences were seen in the reaction strength between the paired samples in any subjects for ABO and Rh typing (P = .90, yielding beta = .0523). In addition, human leukocyte activity was detected in both the marrow and venous samples in one patient.
Conclusion: Bone marrow aspirates following intraosseous infusion can be used for accurate and reliable typing and screening of blood.