Blood Transfusion

A blood transfusion is generally given to a patient to increase the number of oxygen carrying red blood cells circulating in his or her blood. Patients may need a transfusion because of a medical condition or blood loss associated with trauma or surgery. Because there is some risk associated with blood transfusions, doctors transfuse patients only when necessary. Most blood for transfusion is collected from volunteer blood donors and stored in blood banks until it is needed.

Risks of Blood Transfusion

In the era of AIDS there has been much discussion of the safety of the blood supply. Blood collected today is 100% tested, and donors are carefully screened. This has dramatically reduced, but not eliminated, the risk of transmission of disease through blood transfusion. Other risks associated with blood transfusions include:

• Contamination of the blood with bacteria which can make a patient ill;
• A reaction to the donor blood caused by the patient’s immune system which can result in the patient getting a fever, chills, or more serious complications; and,
• Transfusion errors, the leading cause of transfusion-related death in the United States.

The chance of a patient being exposed to any of these risks is really very small. Still, many patients prefer to be transfused with their own blood.

Click here to learn more about:

Autologous blood transfusion – Donating your blood in advance of surgery
Surgical blood salvage – Collecting the blood you lose during surgery for transfusion back to you