[Trends in blood transfusion indications]

Blood components prescription has been greatly modified in the recent years. From 1986 to 2002, the consciousness rising of diseases transmission by blood transfusion led to a reduction of their indications, and for accepted indications, to establish specific thresholds and choice of components in order to reduce donor exposure as much as possible. Since 2003 and more significantly since 2006, we observed a constant increase (3 to 5%/year) of their use. Improvement of blood transfusion safety by many measures taken from collection to delivery including expansion of pathogen reduction technology to cellular blood components, population ageing (as the proportion of transfused people increases exponentially with age) and evidence of under-transfusion risks are the main key factors for such an evolution of practices.