title: Blood banking and transfusion medicine for the apheresis medicine practitioner.
abstract: This article provides a concise overview of blood banking and transfusion medicine (BBTM) for the therapeutic apheresis medicine practitioner. It addresses the complete pathway from blood donor qualification to blood collection, to processing and storing blood components, to patient testing, to ordering blood components for therapeutic apheresis (TA) procedures, to preparing the component for transfusion, and finally to transfusion. The nurses, technologists, and physicians orchestrate these activities in concert to best serve patients undergoing TA procedures. Enhancing knowledge of these processes may improve the quality of patient care and the utilization of blood products.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Blood Bank and Transfusion Medicine Services, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jeffus
authors.forename: Gay
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wehrli
mesh_terms: D001771:Blood Banks; D001781:Blood Component Removal; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D046148:Donor Selection; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D065227:Transfusion Reaction; D014481:United States