Annually, 100 million blood transfusions with donor blood take place worldwide. A transfusion provides the part or parts of blood you need, with red blood cells being the most commonly transfused.
Despite its broad applicability, allogeneic (donor) red blood cell transfusion is still associated with;
- High costs per treatment due to donor blood purchase prices and hospital resource expenses.
- Health risks, resulting in medical complications, longer recovery time, or even mortality.
- Scarcity, ~30 million units are lacking in the middle- and low-income countries to meet minimal demand for this life-saving treatment.
Patient Blood Management (PBM) improves patient outcomes by enhancing medical and surgical regimes to conserve patients’ blood. Due to efficient management, patients require fewer transfusions of donated blood, thus avoiding transfusion-associated complications and costs. Using autologous, patient’s own, blood for transfusion is a valuable PBM tool to reduce donor blood dependence.
