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British Journal of Anaesthesia, 2002, Vol. 89, No. 4 537-540
© 2002 The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia

Editorial

Editorial II

Should we demand fresh red blood cells for perioperative and critically ill patients?

S. A. McLellan1, T. S. Walsh1 and D. B. L. McClellan2

1 University Department of Anaesthetics, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK 2 Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Blood transfusion has been practiced for almost 100 yr. This life-saving therapy was once regarded as ‘one of the great advances in modern medicine’.1 Times have changed; there are now very real concerns about the safety and efficacy of allogeneic stored blood. This shift in opinion has been precipitated by the greater awareness of transfusion-transmitted infections, most notably human immunodeficiency virus. More recently, clinical trials and animal experiments have raised doubts about the efficacy of transfusion.2–4 A recent editorial in this journal stated that ‘blood transfusion (particularly with old blood) can paradoxically decrease microcirculatory oxygen delivery and contribute to tissue hypoxia’.5

Such statements need to be supported by sound evidence, as they lead us to believe that we should be demanding fresh blood for our patients. This is not a new idea, but such a change in practice could have crippling consequences for the UK’s blood services, which face serious . . . [Full Text of this Article]

What evidence is there that the transfusion of stored blood has adverse clinical consequences?


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