Whole Blood – More than the Sum of Its Components?

tamingthesru.com May 30, 2018

This retrospective analysis was conducted in a US Military population across 6 combat hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan between January 2004 and October 2007. Patient’s transfused at least 1 unit RBCs met inclusion criteria for the study and were divided into 2 groups; those transfused warm fresh whole blood (WFWB), RBCs, and plasma but no aphaeresis platelets (aPLT) and those transfused component therapy (CT) of RBCs, plasma, and aPLT. Of note, RBCs transfused in this population were not leukoreduced as is standard practice in civilian blood banks. Primary outcomes were mortality at 24 hours and 30 days, and the authors hypothesized that patients transfused WFWB would have improved mortality at both time points.