Scottish Institute of Reflexology

BLOOD TRANSFUSION

Blood transfusion is not something many of us will have come across in our lives. It is one of those things that we hear about all the time and yet are not really sure what is entails or where it is used.

History

The first successful transfusion took place in 1666 in London by Richard Lower, although it was on an animal. It wasn’t until 1818 that it was used in hospitals on haemorrhages in mothers after child birth. In 1900 Dr Karl Lansteiner discovered that there were 4 main groups of blood A, B, AB & O, this explained why some transfusions seemed to work and some didn’t. The 1914 War necessitated the use of blood for transfusion and it was discovered that by refrigerating the blood it would last longer and by adding sodium citrate it would not clot. In 1921 British Red Cross volunteers gave blood in London and so the first blood donation service was born. The first blood bank was established at Cook County Hospital in Chicago in 1936 with one opening in Ipswich in 1937 and in 1946 the Blood Transfusion Service came into being, predating the National Health Service by 2 years.

Uses

The top 5 uses for blood in Britain are:-
1. General Surgery – 23%
2. General Medical – 15%
3. Cardiothoracic surgery – 13%
4. Orthopaedics – 11%
5. Haematology – 9%

Note that A&E does not figure in the top 5 although it does come in at number 6, most transfusions are not used in emergency situations but are planned as part of surgery. In many cases any blood lost from a patient is returned where possible.

In most cases today ‘whole blood’ is not used except in the case of severe and sudden blood loss. It is now used in its separate components
Red cells – anaemia, sickle cell disease, burns victims
Platelets – Bone marrow failure, after chemotherapy, leukaemia
Plasma – obstetric blood loss, cardiac surgery, liver disease
Factor VIII – treatment of haemophilia

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