Risk factors associated with lipaemic plasma in a cohort of canine blood donors.

Enforce a minimum 4-hour fast and avoid high-fat or raw diets before canine blood donation to reduce lipaemic plasma.

This prospective cohort study evaluated the prevalence of lipaemic plasma in 296 healthy canine blood donors at a university blood bank and identified key risk factors contributing to its occurrence. Plasma units were assessed prior to freezing using a standardized turbidity/lipaemic index chart (0–4 scale), with grades 3–4 classified as lipaemic. The overall prevalence of lipaemic plasma was 11.8%. Multivariate analysis identified several significant risk factors: shorter time since last meal (3.64 vs. 5.94 hours in non-lipaemic donors, P = .008), feeding within 4 hours of collection (80.56% vs. 47.69%, P < .001), higher dietary fat content (46.8 vs. 40.8 g/1000 kcal), consumption of a raw diet (19.44% vs. 3.88%, P = .001), and elevated triglyceride concentrations (2.26 vs. 0.91 mmol/L, P < .001). Dogs fed raw diets were disproportionately represented among lipaemic donors, likely reflecting the higher fat content typical of such diets. The authors recommend implementing a minimum 4-hour pre-collection fast for all canine blood donors and advise particular caution with dogs consuming high-fat or raw diets. These practical guidelines aim to reduce blood product waste and improve the quality and usability of fresh frozen plasma units. The findings provide actionable evidence-based recommendations that blood bank programs can incorporate into donor screening and pre-collection protocols.

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