[Transfusion practice: what's new?]

Transfusion practice: what's new? Among many novelties in the field of transfusion, three are particularly noteworthy, as they significantly impact clinical practice of blood components transfusion and patients' safety. Patient blood management, evidence based and multidisciplinary, aims to optimize the management of each patient who may require transfusion. A medical and rational application of restrictive transfusion policies combined with alternatives to transfusion will lead to both better patient management and a reduction in exposure to blood components and related risks. Multidisciplinary training on prescribing and transfusion counseling, a suitable haemovigilance and a developed clinical research will support the development of patient blood management. The application of mitigation methods for infectious agents is now widespread for platelets and therapeutic plasma. And the concomitant transfusion of plasma, platelets and red blood cells has become a therapeutic standard for patients with severe haemorrhagic shock.