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Patient Blood Management and Blood Product Alternatives: An Update
Hollie M Reeves1, Kathleen K Nicol1
1Transfusion Medicine Services, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
Patient blood management aims to limit blood loss and optimize blood product utilization. Recognizing the risks, costs, and availability of blood to transfuse, strategies such as restrictive transfusion thresholds, perioperative anemia management, and adjunct hemostatic agents are utilized to minimize transfusion. Additionally, finding alternatives to blood has been an ongoing area of research and development for decades. Decreasing pathogen transmission, improving storage, transportability, and accessibility, and reducing wastage are all current aims. Despite the significant advances achieved, the continued reliance on donor blood and blood products highlights the need for management strategies that aid in preserving this precious resource.
Patient blood management aims to limit blood loss and optimize blood product utilization. Recognizing the risks, costs, and availability of blood to transfuse, strategies such as restrictive transfusion thresholds, perioperative anemia management, and adjunct hemostatic agents are utilized to minimize transfusion. Additionally, finding alternatives to blood has been an ongoing area of research and development for decades. Decreasing pathogen transmission, improving storage, transportability, and accessibility, and reducing wastage are all current aims. Despite the significant advances achieved, the continued reliance on donor blood and blood products highlights the need for management strategies that aid in preserving this precious resource.
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