[The transfusion of blood and its derivatives in the neonate]

Blood and its products are valuable therapeutic resources for the pediatrician who care for newborns with severe illnesses. The use of blood and its products requires for the hospital personnel working at neonatal care units to be precise and up to date on the indications and complications of total blood, the globular package, albumin, plasma, the concentration of granulocytes, platelets and immunoglobulins for intravenous use. This review gathers, on the one hand, accumulated experiences by the members of the Commission of Blood and its Products from the Pediatric Hospital of the National Medical Center and on the other hand, a selection of the more important concepts which have been judged so by the authors and expressed in the current medical literature.