Patient blood management - past, present and future

Patient blood management (PBM) is a patient-centered, systematic, evidence-based, multidisciplinary, and multimodal approach to improve patient outcomes by managing and preserving the patient's own blood. The history of PBM dates back to the 19th century, while modern practice has been shaped by programs such as Dr. Denton Cooley's "bloodless surgery". Despite advances in transfusion medicine, the safety risks and side effects of transfusion have driven the development of PBM. Today, this program includes optimizing hematopoiesis, reducing blood loss, and improving the tolerance of anemia. PBM improves clinical outcomes and patient safety, and the World Health Organization recommends implementing this program in all countries of the world as a standard of care.