Situations which require blood transfusions

Learn more about participating in a clinical trial. View all trials from ClinicalTrials. After reading our Blood Transfusion Health Topic, you may be interested in additional information found in the following resources. The focus of the workshop was to identify strategies and research opportunities to foster implementation research t Blood Transfusion.

A blood transfusion is a common, safe medical procedure in which healthy blood is given to you through an intravenous IV line that has been inserted in one of your blood vessels. Research for Your Health. Improving health with current research.

Now in its fourth phase, called REDS-IV-Pediatric, this program supports research in the United States and around the world to evaluate and improve the health of blood donors and the safety and effectiveness of transfusion therapies in children and adults. We held a workshop in where researchers and experts made recommendations to guide future research on new technologies and biomarkers that could be developed and used to assess tissue oxygenation before and after transfusions of red blood cells.

Clinical trials funded by the NHLBI helped determine that the previous blood transfusion guidelines sometimes led to unnecessary transfusions.

The current guidelines will limit unnecessary transfusions and help reduce the risks and complications linked to blood transfusions. An NHLBI-funded study compared two transfusion methods designed to better deliver blood transfusions to critically injured patients.

The study found that the two methods were equally effective at helping patients survive their injuries. These results will help increase the treatment options available to patients. View No difference in long-term mortality found when investigators tested two blood transfusion methods in severely injured trauma patients for more information. The NHLBI leads or sponsors many studies on the use of blood transfusions for the treatment of sickle cell disease.

These studies have led to advances in the use of blood transfusions to manage anemia, prevent organ failure, and reduce the risk of stroke in patients who have sickle cell disease. View Evidence-Based Management of Sickle Cell Disease and Blood transfusions may mean fewer strokes in kids with sickle cell disease for more information. Advancing research for improved health. We perform research. Our Division of Intramural Research , which includes investigators from the Hematology and Sickle Cell branches, perform research on conditions that require a blood transfusion.

We fund research. The research we fund today will help improve our future health. This helps us to improve upon the safety of blood and blood products and their use in the treatment and management of conditions such as anemia, sickle cell disease, and bleeding disorders. We stimulate high-impact research. Read more. Optimizing blood unit storage conditions. The NHLBI funds basic and translational research to understand the effects of processing and storage on the quality of blood products.

NHLBI-funded studies on age-related changes to stored blood have led to suggested updates to current recommendations for allowable storage times, storage conditions, and processing methods for blood products used in transfusions.

Recovery time may depend on the reason for the blood transfusion. However, a person can be discharged less than 24 hours after the procedure. A person may feel an ache in the hand or arm after a transfusion. There may also be some bruising at the site. There may be a very small risk of a delayed reaction to the transfusion. Although this does not typically cause problems, a person should consult a doctor if they feel unwell and have unexpected symptoms, such as nausea, swelling, jaundice , or an itchy rash.

It is important to let a doctor know about any symptoms that might signal a reaction, such as nausea or difficulty breathing. Blood transfusions are very safe. Strict procedures exist to ensure that the testing, handling, and storage of donated blood is as safe as possible. Such reactions can be either mild or severe.

Some reactions occur immediately, while others can take several days to appear. Examples include:. Allergic reactions are common. A person may experience a fever following a blood transfusion.

Although this is not serious, if they also experience chest pain or nausea, they should let a doctor know as soon as possible. This can occur when the blood types are not compatible, causing the immune system to attack the new blood cells. This is a serious reaction, but it is very rare. In very rare cases, donated blood can contain bacteria, viruses, or parasites that may cause infections such as HIV or hepatitis B or C. However, according to the CDC, experts test every blood donation for these contaminants.

It is therefore very rare for a person to contract an infection from a blood transfusion. In fact, according to the American Red Cross , the chance of a person contracting hepatitis B is 1 in ,, and the likelihood of contracting hepatitis C is 1 in 1.

The chances of getting HIV from a blood transfusion in the United States is less than 1 in 1 million. A blood transfusion is a safe procedure that replaces blood lost to injury or surgery.

It can also help treat certain medical conditions. Although infections are very rare, it is possible for the body to react to the new blood. In most cases, however, these reactions are mild. The cannula is connected to a drip and the blood runs through the drip into your arm.

Depending on the underlying condition and the type of other treatment needed, some patients may have a larger tube, which is known as a central line, inserted into a vein in their chest. Alternatively, a peripherally inserted central catheter PICC line may be inserted in the crook of the arm.

There may be some discomfort when the tube is put into the vein, but you shouldn't feel anything during the transfusion. You'll be observed at regular intervals, but if you start to feel unwell during or shortly after your transfusion, you should tell a member of staff immediately. Some people may develop a temperature, chills or a rash. These reactions are usually mild and easily treated with paracetamol or by slowing down the blood transfusion.

Severe reactions to blood are rare. If they occur, staff are trained to recognise and treat them. If you have any concerns, discuss them with your doctor, nurse or midwife. Blood transfusions are a fairly common procedure.

The risk of serious side effects is low, as your blood is tested against the donor blood to make sure it is compatible, and you will be monitored regularly during the transfusion. Having an allergic reaction to the donated blood is a rare complication of a blood transfusion. In , there were reported cases of allergic reactions after a blood transfusion in the UK. The symptoms of the reaction are usually mild and occur during or shortly after the transfusion.

These types of reactions can usually be successfully managed by slowing down or stopping the transfusion and treating the symptoms with antihistamines and, in some cases, paracetamol.

Anaphylaxis is a more serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction to antibodies or other substances in the blood.

In , there were 33 cases of anaphylaxis associated with blood transfusions in the UK. Treatment for anaphylaxis is usually an injection of a type of medication called adrenaline.

Occasionally, too much blood is transfused into the body in too short a time for the body to properly cope with it. This is known as fluid overload. The excess fluid can result in the heart being unable to pump enough blood around the body heart failure. The lungs also become filled with fluid, which can result in shortness of breath.

Older patients and those with serious health conditions, such as heart disease, are at greater risk of fluid overload. It is treated by giving a medicine to remove excess fluid from the body diuretic , and by reducing the speed of the transfusion in the future.

A rare but very serious risk associated with blood transfusions is transfusion-related acute lung injury TRALI. It occurs more often with platelets and plasma than with red cells. The high levels of inflammation cause the lungs to become starved of oxygen. In some cases, this can be fatal. Most experts believe that some type of abnormal immune response causes the inflammation associated with TRALI.

Treatment for TRALI requires using a ventilator to provide the body with oxygen until the inflammation of the lungs subsides. A haemolytic transfusion reaction HTR is when the immune system reacts to the donated blood and begins attacking the blood cells. HTRs can happen during or soon after transfusion, or they can be delayed, happening a few days or even a week after transfusion. Haemolytic reactions can cause symptoms like other transfusion reactions, but the urine may turn darker, due to destruction of red blood cells.

Despite every effort being made to keep donated blood germ-free sterile , bacteria can occasionally develop in donated blood, but this is very rare. Donations of platelets are particularly vulnerable to contamination, because they need to be stored at room temperature.

If a person receives a donation of contaminated blood, they may develop symptoms of blood poisoning sepsis , including:. Sepsis usually needs to be treated with injections of antibiotics — see treating sepsis for more information. There have been no cases of bacterial infections associated with contaminated blood in the UK since For example, it is estimated that:. There hasn't been a recorded case of someone developing a viral infection from a blood transfusion since Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease CJD is a rare and fatal condition that causes worsening brain damage over time.

A form of this condition called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease vCJD , which is usually caused by eating meat infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy BSE or "Mad Cow Disease" , can be passed on through a blood transfusion. However, this is extremely rare. In the UK, about 2. As a precautionary measure, to reduce the risk of transmitting vCJD, people who have received a blood transfusion since are not currently able to give blood.

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