title: Transfusion medicine in small animal practice.
abstract: Red blood cell transfusions in veterinary medicine have become increasingly more common and are an integral part of lifesaving and advanced treatment of the critically ill. Common situations involving transfusions are life-threatening anemia from acute hemorrhage or surgical blood loss, hemolysis from drugs or toxins, immune-mediated diseases, severe nonregenerative conditions, and neonatal isoerythrolysis. Although transfusions can be lifesaving, they are also associated with adverse events that can be life threatening. This article reviews the principles for pretransfusion blood typing and compatibility testing and the types of transfusion reactions that exist despite test performance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency and Critical Care, Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center of New England, 180 Bear Hill Road, Waltham, MA 02454, USA. ltocci@vescone.com
authors.forename: Lynel J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Tocci
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016913:Blood Component Transfusion / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000662:veterinary*; D001782:Blood Donors; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000662:veterinary*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D002415:Cats; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D016896:Treatment Outcome