title: Blood transfusion risks in the intensive care unit.
abstract: This article reviews transfusion risks with particular emphasis on the critically ill. It describes the various types of noninfectious,infectious, and mild-to-severe reactions that can occur in a trans-fused patient. The article describes differential diagnosis of these reactions and the handling and treatment of the patient. Diagnosis of the type of transfusion reaction by laboratory tests is detailed. Finally, the article discusses the dangers of human error with possible strategies to combat this problem using new technologies.
authors.affiliation: Transfusion Medicine Services, Department of Pathology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 232 MEB, One Robert Wood Place, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA. kuriyame@umdjn.edu
authors.forename: Mercy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuriyan
authors.forename: Jeffrey L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Carson
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care; D016638:Critical Illness; D006801:Humans; D012306:Risk; D065227:Transfusion Reaction