Blood transfusion facts for kids

A bag containing one unit of fresh frozen plasma

Blood transfusion is a medical term. It means a procedure used to transfer blood (or some products based on blood) from the circulatory system of one human to that of another human.

Uses

Blood transfusions can save the life of a person, if that person has lost a lot of blood. A person can lose blood from an injury, a trauma or from a medical operation. Blood transfusions can also be applied as a treatment to certain diseases of the blood (like Anaemia, for example).

Blood is not collected and used immediately. Instead it is kept until it is needed. The storage area is informally called a blood bank . By adding anti-coagulant to keep the blood from clotting and refrigerating the blood, it is possible to store it for a few days.

Problems

Not all people are able to donate blood to all other people. Testing for blood types usually prevents any bad reaction to a blood transfusion. However, there are special problems for anyone with rare blood groups. It is very important, in order to avoid any complications during a blood transfusion, to detect individuals with rare blood types. The usual tests for ABO blood group system would show them as group O. It may not be possible to give a blood transfusion at all unless the repository has supply of blood which will not cause a reaction.

Related pages

• Charles R. Drew

Images for kids

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  The patient receives a blood transfusion through the cannula

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  Canned blood during the blood transfusion process

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  As the person receives their blood transfusion, the bag slowly gets emptier, leaving behind blood that has clotted before it could be administered.

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  Interpretation of antibody panel to detect patient antibodies towards the most relevant human blood group systems.

  For more details, see Blood compatibility testing
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  Richard Lower pioneered the first blood transfusion from animal to human in 1665 at the Royal Society.

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  James Blundell successfully transfused human blood in 1818.

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  William Stewart Halsted, M.D. (1852–1922) performed one of the first blood transfusions in the United States.

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  Dr. Luis Agote (2nd from right) overseeing one of the first safe and effective blood transfusions in 1914

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  World War II Russian syringe for direct inter-human blood transfusion

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  Alexander Bogdanov established a scientific institute to research the effects of blood transfusion in Moscow, 1925.

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  British poster of 1944 encouraging people to donate blood for the war effort

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  Charles R. Drew oversaw the production of blood plasma for shipping to Britain during WW2.

See also

In Spanish: Transfusión de sangre para niños