Blood Transfusion

In case of accidents, surgeries or prolonged illness, there can be a great loss of blood. In such cases, the body requires blood. Replacement of blood from external sources is called blood transfusion. However, the compatibility has to be checked before the transfusion occurs.

Transfusion is the replacement of lost blood of a person with the blood of another person. During transfusion, the person receiving blood is called recipient and the person donating blood is called donor. Persons with blood group A can receive blood from either A or O (with no antigens) groups. Persons with B blood group can receive blood from either B or O groups. Persons with AB blood group can receive blood from A, B, AB or O groups (all the groups). Persons with O group can only receive blood from O group as they contain both the antibodies. Thus, AB group can receive blood from all groups and is called the universal recipient. O group can donate to all the groups and is called the universal donor.

For transfusion, blood is drawn from a vein in the arm of the donor. At a time, about 420cc blood can be drawn from a person. The blood donated is made up in a few hours and the RBCs are replaced in about 2-3 weeks. However, donors are advised not to donate blood for the next 3 months. The transfusion can be made immediately or the blood may be stored in blood banks to be used as per requirement. The blood is stored at 5⁰C and sodium citrate is added to prevent agglutination.