Blood Transfusion News and Research

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Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood or blood-based products from one person into the circulatory system of another. Blood transfusions can be life-saving in some situations, such as massive blood loss due to trauma, or can be used to replace blood lost during surgery.

Incontinence prophylaxis shows potential in pelvic organ prolapse

Research from Taiwan suggests that combining trocar-guided transvaginal mesh surgery with a midurethral sling in the treatment of women with advanced pelvic organ prolapse could be an effective way to manage associated stress urinary incontinence.

3 Feb 2014

Risk factor for life-threatening bowel infection in premature infants identified

Many premature infants suffer a life-threatening bowel infection called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

17 Jan 2014

Key questions to ask about bone marrow transplants

Those who have leukemia, lymphoma or other blood cancer diseases might have heard about bone marrow transplant as a potential treatment. As with any serious procedure, it is important to have all questions answered by a physician before any decision is made.

20 Dec 2013

Research: Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease might be transmitted by blood transfusion

Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare but fatal disease in humans. For the first time, the presence of infectivity[1] in the blood of patients affected by sporadic and the new variant of CJD was established by scientists from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the French National Veterinary School (ENVT), in collaboration with European partners.

12 Dec 2013

Study to assess benefits of plasma administration while being flown to hospitals

Vanderbilt University Medical Center will participate in a national trial to see if outcomes for critically injured patients with uncontrolled bleeding can be improved by administering plasma to these patients while in flight to the hospital.

30 Oct 2013

Study suggests certain pediatric surgeries carry low risk of serious blood loss

Certain pediatric surgeries carry such low risk of serious blood loss that clinicians can safely forgo expensive blood typing and blood stocking before such procedures, suggest the results of a small study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

24 Sep 2013

Hepatitis C services in the UK: an interview with Louise Campbell, senior liver nurse at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Within the UK there are several centres whose nurse specialists work to a best practice model, delivering care and achieving outcomes which are extremely high in areas of patient retention, adherence to medication and completion of the treatment regimen. With this they achieve cure rates which are some of the highest in the World.

9 Sep 2013

Women are 25% less likely to die post TAVI than men, says doctor

Dr Sherif said: "Earlier studies on the impact of gender on outcome after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) have had conflicting results. A Canadian study reported in 641 consecutive patients that female sex is associated with a better long-term and short-term survival after TAVI.1 An Italian study of 305 high risk patients found no gender differences in composite safety and efficacy endpoints at 30 days and one year after TAVI."2

2 Sep 2013

Diabetic patients could benefit from breakthrough cell study

Diabetic patients could benefit from a breakthrough that enables scientists to take cells from the pancreas and change their function to produce insulin.

30 Aug 2013

Fixed-ratio transfusion protocol in trauma patients is feasible, but wastes blood plasma

The use of a 1:1:1 blood transfusion protocol in patients with severe trauma is feasible in hospitals, although it is associated with higher waste of plasma, according to a randomized trial published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

16 Jul 2013

Study finds decrease in risk of death from ischemic stroke in US black children

The excess risk of death from ischemic (due to reduced blood flow), but not hemorrhagic (due to bleeding), stroke in US black children has decreased over the past decade, according to a study by Laura L. Lehman, M.D., of Boston Children's Hospital, and colleagues.

25 Jun 2013

Smoking before surgery can lead to morbidity and complications for neurosurgical procedures

The effects of long-term cigarette smoking on morbidity and mortality have long been known. In a more immediate sense, smoking in the days and weeks before surgery can lead to morbidity and complications for many surgical procedures.

19 Jun 2013

EKF Diagnostics launches rapid strip-based test for hemoglobin at ISBT

EKF, has announced the global launch of a new strip-based test for quick and easy hemoglobin analysis for anemia determination.

From EKF Diagnostics 3 Jun 2013

RBC transfusion during cardiac surgery can increase risk of postoperative infection

The risk of postoperative infection appears to increase when patients receive red blood cell (RBC) transfusion during or after cardiac surgery, and greater attention to practices that limit red blood cell use could potentially reduce the occurrence of major postoperative infections, according to a study published in the June 2013 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

1 Jun 2013

Novel approach to create unlimited number of human red blood cells, platelets in vitro

A study led by Boston University School of Medicine has identified a novel approach to create an unlimited number of human red blood cells and platelets in vitro. In collaboration with Boston University School of Public Health and Boston Medical Center, the researchers differentiated induced pluripotent stem cells into these cell types, which are typically obtained through blood donations.

31 May 2013

Four studies show that OrSense's non-invasive NBM-200 Hb monitor is safe and accurate

OrSense Ltd., developer of monitors for non-invasive measurements of various blood parameters, announced today that its non-invasive Hemoglobin NBM-200 monitor was the topic of multiple recent studies highlighting the clinical value of the device.

28 May 2013

Study suggests that data from new electronic AIMS can be used to assess surgical procedure

Data from new electronic anesthesia information management systems can be used to assess surgical procedure- and institution-specific blood requirements, according to a study from the June issue of Anesthesiology.

23 May 2013

Robotic partial nephrectomy involves excessive hospital charges

Robot-assisted surgery to remove kidney cancers has seen a rapid increase in use, and has both replaced and proven safer than laparoscopic procedures for the same purpose, according to a study by the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

8 May 2013

Prior administration of erythropoietin reduces need for blood transfusions

Anemia increases operative mortality and morbidity in non-cardiac and cardiac surgical procedures. Anemic surgical patients may require more blood transfusions, raising the risk of transfusion-related complications and increasing costs.

7 May 2013

HCV screening of prison inmate drug users: an interview with Dr. Arthur Kim, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Prisoners overall have a very high rate of past or present injection drug use, which is a major risk factor for HCV infection due to repeated exposures to needles.

1 May 2013