Is blood transfusion safe? What complications may arise after a transfusion? These questions should be answered by the doctor who will perform the transfusion. As with any medical procedure, blood transfusions have certain risks, so the patient should know what side effects a blood transfusion can have. Check what complications may arise after a blood transfusion.

Is blood transfusion safe?Whatcomplicationsmay appearafter transfusion ? The patient has the right to be concerned about blood transfusions as this is a serious medical procedure with some risks. Therefore, the doctor under the care of the patient should inform him aboutside effectsmay haveblood transfusion .

Is blood transfusion safe?

Blood transfusion , like any medical procedure, carries some risks. Currently, the greatest risk associated with a blood transfusion is that you receive blood from a different group, i.e. incompatible with the group. For this reason, the basic test performed immediately before the procedure is a blood cross, which enables the determination of the blood group and the RH factor necessary for the blood transfusion.

There is also the likelihood of infection with blood borne diseases, but this is very low as now the blood of every potential donor is thoroughly tested. I am doing, inter alia, blood tests for diseases, not only those borne by blood. As research shows, the risk of infection with HBV, i.e. hepatitis B virus (hepatitis B, as a result of blood transfusion) is about 1 to 500 thousand, and in the case of HCV, i.e. hepatitis C virus (hepatitis C - 1 to 30 In contrast, the risk of contracting HIV or HTLV (human T-cell leukemia virus) is 1 in 5 million, and there is also a small risk of contracting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which increases with the number of transfusions.

Complications after blood transfusion. Side effects of blood transfusion

Complications after blood transfusionare divided into early complications that occur during the transfusion or within 24 hours after its completion, and late complications, which may occur after about 30 days from transfusion.Early complications afterblood transfusion

  • Acute haemolytic reaction - is the result of transfusion of blood that is incompatible with the recipient's blood in the AB0 system. The characteristic symptoms are fever, chills, nausea, dyspnoea, chest pain, oliguria.
  • Urticaria is an allergic reaction to blood transfusion, resulting in redness and itching.
  • Anaphylactic shock is the result of the recipient's body producing anti-IgA antibodies. This is one of the more serious early complications after transfusion as shock can be very severe and life-threatening. Then there is a cough, bronchospasm, respiratory and circulatory system disorders.
  • Sepsis usually occurs when the blood given was microbiologically contaminated. The body's reaction to infection is an increase in temperature up to 41 ° C, chills, circulatory disorders.
  • Circulation overload that may appear after blood transfusion is manifested, among others, by cardiovascular and respiratory system disorders.

Late complications after blood transfusion

  • Hemolytic reaction with fever, increase in bilirubin and decrease in hemoglobin - usually does not require treatment.
  • Transfusion purpura (transfusion thrombocytopenia) is a bleeding disorder that occurs due to the destruction of thrombocytes (platelets) by antiplatelet alloantibodies. It is characterized by a drop in blood platelets and generalized purpura. The disease is severe, and treatment is performed with therapeutic plasmapheresis.
  • Graft versus host disease(Graft-Versus-Host Disease) is a reaction of the recipient's organism that develops as a result of contact with antigen-foreign lymphocytes. After blood transfusion, donor lymphocytes recognize foreign recipient cells and begin to destroy host tissues. This is a life-threatening complication manifested by fever, rash, erythema, renal and hepatic failure. It has been shown that older recipients are at a much greater risk of developing the disease than young recipients. The treatment includes glucocorticosteroids and individually selected immunosuppressive therapy.
  • Bacterial and viral complications, especially hepatitis B and C and HIV.

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