Transfusion medicine in small animal practice
Red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in veterinary medicine have become increasingly more common and are an integral part of lifesaving and advanced treatment of the critically ill.
Common situations involving transfusions are life-threatening anemia from acute hemorrhage or surgical blood loss, hemolysis from drugs or toxins, immune-mediated diseases, severe nonregenerative conditions, and neonatal isoerythrolysis. A wide variety of blood types exist in domestic animals, and new antigens are being discovered with increasing frequency.
oday, it is not uncommon to have patients with previous transfusion histories requiring additional transfusions, and now there are rapid and reliable point-of-care tests for blood typing and crossmatching. Pretransfusion testing is designed to help ensure that an RBC transfusion is effective while minimizing the risk of adverse reactions (immediate or delayed). Although transfusions can be lifesaving, they are also associated with adverse events that can be life threatening.
This article reviews the principles for pretransfusion blood typing and compatibility testing and the types of transfusion reactions that exist despite test performance.
Author: Lynel J. Tocci
Source: https://www.vetsmall.theclinics.com/
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