Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Feb;116(2):167-174.
doi: 10.1111/vox.12998. Epub 2020 Sep 30.

Re-introducing whole blood for transfusion: considerations for blood providers

Tor A Hervig  1 , Heidi A Doughty  2 , Rebecca A Cardigan  3 , Torunn O Apelseth  4 , John R Hess  5 , Femke Noorman  6 , Miloš Bohoněk  7 , Mark H Yazer  8 , Jia Lu  9 , Silvano Wendel  10 , Rosemary L Sparrow  11 ; Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative
Affiliations
Review

Re-introducing whole blood for transfusion: considerations for blood providers

Tor A Hervig et al. Vox Sang. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Whole blood is the original blood preparation but disappeared from the blood bank inventories in the 1980s following the advent of component therapy. In the early 2000s, both military and civilian practice called for changes in the transfusion support for massive haemorrhage. The 'clear fluid' policy was abandoned and replaced by early balanced transfusion of platelets, plasma and red cells. Whole blood is an attractive alternative to multi-component therapy, which offers reduced hemodilution, lower donor exposure and simplified logistics. However, the potential for wider re-introduction of whole blood requires re-evaluation of haemolysins, storage conditions and shelf-life, the need for leucocyte depletion/ pathogen reduction and inventory management for blood providers. This review addresses these questions and calls for research to define the optimal whole blood product and the indications for its use.

Keywords: blood components; emergency; haemorrhage; pre-hospital; transfusion; whole blood.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Spinella P, Pidcoke HF, Strandenes G, et al.: Whole blood for hemostatic resuscitation of major bleeding. Transfusion (Paris) 2016; 56:S190-S202
    1. Zielinski MD, Stubbs JR, Berns KS, et al.: Prehospital blood transfusion programs: Capabilities and lessons learned. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2017; 82:S70-S78
    1. Yazer MH, Cap AP, Spinella PC, et al.: How do I implement a whole blood program for massively bleeding patients? Transfusion (Paris) 2018; 58:622-628
    1. Yazer MH, Spinella PC: An international survey on the use of low titer group O whole blood for the resuscitation of civilian trauma patients in 2020. Transfusion (Paris) 2020; 60:S176-S179
    1. Spinella PC: Warm fresh whole blood transfusion for severe hemorrhage: U.S. military and potential civilian applications. Crit Care Med. 2008; 36:S340-S345

LinkOut - more resources