Modifications to Blood Components: When to Use them and What is the Evidence?
Blood component modifications can be performed by the hospital blood bank for select clinical indications. In general, modification of blood components increases costs and may delay availability of the blood component because of the additional time required for some modification steps. However, the benefit of blood product modification may outweigh these concerns. Common modifications include leukoreduction, irradiation, volume reduction, splitting, and washing. Modification availability and selection practice may vary from hospital to hospital. In this article, available blood component modifications are described along with the benefits, drawbacks, and specific clinical indications supporting their use.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, 20 York Street, Blood Bank PS329C, New Haven, CT 06510-3206, USA. Electronic address: eric.gehrie@yale.edu.
Eric A
EA
Gehrie
Department of Pathology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756-1000, USA; Department of Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756-1000, USA.
Nancy M
NM
Dunbar
D016913:Blood Component Transfusion; D058731:Blood Safety / Q000379:methods*; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D047589:Leukocyte Reduction Procedures / Q000379:methods*
Blood banking; Platelets; Red blood cells; Transfusion medicine; Transfusion reactions