Impact of replacing manual polybrene with automated column agglutination on irregular antibody detection and transfusion reactions: A 6-year retrospective study at a medical center in Eastern Taiwan

A BSTRACT Objectives: This study aimed to compare irregular antibody detection and transfusion reaction rates between the manual polybrene (MP) method and an automated column agglutination technology (CAT) system in an eastern Taiwan medical center and to assess whether automation refines the detection profile without compromising transfusion safety. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study analyzed pretransfusion testing data and transfusion reaction reports from 2018 to 2020 (MP period) and 2022–2024 (CAT period). Irregular antibody screening was performed using the MP method in the MP period and an automated Ortho BioVue CAT system in the CAT period. Irregular antibody-positive rates, antibody specificities by blood group system, and transfusion reaction rates stratified by severity were compared between periods using Pearson’s Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test, with P < 0.05 considered statistically significant.