By: Ozren Podnar |
Little-Known Dangers of Blood Transfusion |
|
Blood transfusion has developed into an important and commonly used medical therapy, even though its efficiency and security was never tested as it is the case with other medicines and therapies.
Blood transfusion can be a life saving measure in cases of major blood loss or during an operation.
It has been used for treating anemia and thrombocytopenia.
The procedure is regarded as safe but still bears some risk of complications.
Complications can occur during the transfusion or several weeks, months even years later.
American Mayo Clinic describes some of the most common risks of blood transfusion - some of them might surprise you.
Effects of Transfusion in Patients
Numerous recent researches conducted over the past 10 years, show a strong connection between transfusion and adverse effects of medical treatment.
Evidence show that patients who received donated blood, today often feel worse than the ones who didn’t.
Patients who received transfusion bear a higher risk of postoperative infections which include wound, lung and urinary tract infections.
They stay longer in the hospital and often suffer from respiratory problems, kidney failure, heart attack, brain stroke and bleeding.
Patients who received blood transfusion during a heart operation suffer more from heart arrhythmia and heart failure. Often they need a heart bypass surgery and suffer from various other symptoms.
When analyzing a period from 10 months to 5 years after the blood transfusion, mortality rate of patients who received blood transfusion during heart operations is higher - at least double.
Following are some of the most common risks of blood transfusion.
Impact on Patient’s Immunity
Blood is a liquid organ. Therefore a blood transfusion can be regarded as an organ transplantation. This transplantation changes the patient’s immunity system. Specifically, it decreases patient’s immunity.
The doctors are still determining the duration and significance of this change – maybe it lasts for weeks, maybe even years.
Allergic Reaction and Hives
If you have an allergic reaction to the transfusion you may experience hives or itchiness during the procedure or very soon after. This type of reaction is usually treated with antihistamines.
Rarely, a more serious reaction causes heavy breathing, low blood pressure and nausea.
Fever
If you quickly develop a fever during the transfusion, you may be having a febrile transfusion reaction.
Your doctor will stop the transfusion to do further tests before deciding whether to continue. A febrile reaction can also occur shortly after the transfusion.
Blood Infections
Blood banks screen donors for risk factors and test donated blood to reduce the risk of transfusion-related infections.
Blood tests are successful in determining hepatitis C, AIDS and West Nile Virus, risk of which is very low (1 in 2.4 million units or more).
Hepatitis B, parvovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and some recent viruses like avian flu and SARS can also be determined.
Infections may occur despite the precautions. It can take weeks or months after a blood transfusion to determine that you've been infected with a virus, bacteria or parasite.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) can also be passed through a blood transfusion - for the moment there are no test to determine abnormal proteins (prions) which cause it.
There is also a possibility of being affected with parasite pathogens which affect blood circulation such as the one transmitting Chagas disease.
Malaria is still the most common disease passed through a blood transfusion, but the industrial world, including Croatia, bears a minimum risk.
Acute Immune Hemolytic Reaction
This reaction to transfusion is very rare but very serious.
During the reaction, patient’s body attacks transfused red blood cells because the donor’s blood type is incompatible with the patient’s.
Patient’s immunity attacks the transfused red blood cells, which are viewed as foreign. These destroyed blood cells release a toxic substance into the blood that harms the kidneys.
This rare reaction usually occurs during or right after a transfusion.
Signs and symptoms include fever, chills, nausea, back pain, chest pain, and dark urine.
Delayed Hemolytic Reaction
This type of reaction is similar to an acute immune hemolytic reaction, but it occurs much more slowly.
Patient’s body gradually attacks the donor red blood cells.
It could take one to four weeks to notice a decrease in red blood cell levels.
Acute Lung Injury
Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is thought to occur due to antibodies and other biological substances in the blood components.
TRALI causes the lungs to become damaged, making it difficult to breathe.
It occurs within one to six hours of the transfusion. People usually recover, especially when treated quickly.
Iron Overload
If you have received multiple blood transfusions, iron levels in your blood might be increased.
Iron overdose (hemochromatosis) can damage certain parts of the body, including liver and heart.
Human Error
In order for the patient to receive blood, 60 or more human intermediations are needed.
First intermediation occurs when collecting donated blood or when the patient wants to determine his or hers blood type.
Human error may include a wrongly written word or a phrase, also using wrong units or mixing the blood of the patients.
Wherever there are people involved, human error can occur at any step.
Short Term and Long Term Risks of Transfusion:
- Increased mortality rate
- Multiple lung complications
- Increased infection rate and thrombosis
- Double risk of heart attacks
- Kidney failure
- Growth of metastasis in patients affected with cancer
Sources used for this article:
[url=http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/]http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/[/url]
[url=http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/]http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/[/url]
[url=http://www.medicinenet.com/]http://www.medicinenet.com/[/url]
Liked the article?
Share it with your friends!
