Blood Transfusion Notes

Blood Transfusion Introduction

Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood or blood components from one person (the donor) into the bloodstream of another person (the recipient). Transfusion may be done as a lifesaving procedure to replace blood cells or blood products lost through bleeding.

Conditions When Blood Transfussgm Is Necessary: Blood transfusion is essential in the following conditions

1. Anemia
2. Hemorrhage
3. Trauma
4. Burns
5. Surgery.

Read And Learn More: Medical Physiology Notes

Transfusion Precautions

Certain precautions must be followed before and during the transfusion of blood to a patient.

Precautions To Be Taken Before The Transfusion Of Blood

1. Donors must be healthy without any diseases like:
   • Sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis
   • The diseases due to virus like hepatitis, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), etc.
2. Only compatible blood must be transfused
3. Both matching and cross-matching must be done
4. Rh compatibility must be confirmed.

Precautions To Be Taken While Transfusing Blood

1. Apparatus for transfusion must be sterile
2. The temperature of blood to be transfused must be same as body temperature
3. The transfusion of blood must be slow. The sudden rapid infusion of blood into the body increases the load on the heart resulting in many complications.

Blood Substitutes

Substances infused in the body instead of whole blood are known as blood substitutes. The commonly used blood substitutes are:

1. Human plasma
2. 0.9% sodium chloride solution (saline) and 5% glucose
3. Colloids like gum acacia, isinglass, albumin, and animal gelatin.

Exchange Transfusion

• Exchange transfusion is the procedure that involves the removal of a patient’s blood and replacement with fresh donor blood or plasma. It is otherwise known as replacement transfusion.
• It is an important life-saving procedure carried out usually in conditions such as severe jaundice, sickle cell anemia, etc.

Exchange Transfusion Procedure: The procedure involves both removal and replacement of affected blood in stages. The exchange transfusion is carried out in short cycles of few minutes duration as follows:

1. The affected person’s blood is slowly drawn out in small quantities of 5-20 ml depending upon the age and size of the person and the severity of the condition
2. Equal quantity of fresh, prewarmed blood or plasma is infused through intravenous catheter. This is carried out for few minutes
3. The catheter is left in place and the transfusion is repeated within few hours
4. This procedure is continued till the whole or predetermined volume of blood is exchanged.

Conditions Which Need Exchange Transfusion

1. Hemolytic disease of newborn – erythroblastosis fetalis
2. Severe sickle cell anemia
3. Severe polycythemia – replacement with saline, plasma or albumin
4. Toxicity of certain drugs
5. Severe jaundice in newborn babies which does not respond to ultraviolet light therapy. Normally, neonatal jaundice is treated by exposure to ultraviolet rays. It breaks down the bilirubin which is excreted by liver.

Autologous Blood Transfusion

• Autologous blood transfusion is the collection and reinfusion of a patient’s own blood.
• It is also called self-blood donation. The conventional transfusion of blood that is collected from persons other than the patient is called allogeneic or heterologous blood transfusion.
• Autologous blood transfusion is becoming very popular in recent years. It is used for planned surgical procedures.
• The patient’s blood is withdrawn in advance and stored. Then it is infused if necessary during surgery. This type of blood transfusion prevents the transmission of viruses such as HIV or hepatitis B.
• It also eliminates the adverse effects of transfusion reactions.