A new utilization area for hyperbaric oxygen? Improving quality of stored blood

Since blood bags have the ability for diffusion of gases, we investigated whether hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) exposure affects several vital parameters of stored blood.

Bloods obtained from the same persons were used as both control and HBO groups and stored in pediatric bags with citrate-phosphate-dextrose solution. HBO administration was performed at 2.5 atm for 90 min, started 1 day after blood collection and repeated every 2 days for a total of 10 times. The study was terminated on the 21st day. Complete blood count, glucose, pH, and osmotic fragility values were measured every week.

Glucose and pH levels decreased in stored blood. In the HBO-exposed group, these decreases were less than in the control. In addition, mean corpuscular and platelet volumes tended to increase during storing process, but with HBO, these indexes remained lower, near physiologic levels. Another interesting finding of the study was the relative stable osmotic fragility ratio in the HBO group compared to the control blood.

HBO exposure has positive effects on pH, stability of erythrocytes, and energy source (glucose) of the medium. Thus, we concluded that HBO may be a useful application for life and quality of stored blood.