Blood transfusion
Blood is a vital element of the human body, and without it, we would not be able to survive. It contains numerous different kinds of cells and substances that are essential to the preservation of life and that interact in a perfect and complex system. An adult human naturally has around 5-6 litres of blood, which is sufficient to enable him to withstand even a significant loss. However, there are of course limits to the natural compensation mechanisms that are available. Blood loss during a major surgical operation or a pathological reduction in the production of fresh blood in the body cannot always be balanced out by the body. In such cases, it may be necessary to perform a blood transfusion to ensure that the patient does not suffer any injury.
A blood sample will be taken from inpatients as part of the admission process for major operations. This enables the blood group to be determined and suitable blood products to be made available as necessary.
Thanks to the strict regulations contained in statutory guidelines and the transfusion law, blood transfusions nowadays can be regarded as very safe. As with any medical procedure, the transfusion of cellular blood reserves or other blood components is not without a degree of residual risk. Possible risks include intolerance reactions, i.e. immune responses of the body to certain ingredients in the blood. These are generally accompanied by fever, shivering, nausea or a temporary drop in blood pressure. There is also a residual risk of the transmission of certain infectious diseases, such as AIDS or hepatitis, despite the legal regulations. How high this residual risk is depends on the pathogen. In the case of the HI virus that can lead to AIDS, the probability in Germany is less than 1 to 4 million. In the case of hepatitis, the level of improbability is of a similar order. For Hepatitis B infections, the probability is around 1 to 360 000, while that of a hepatitis-C infection is less than 1 to 5 million.
Due to these residual risks, we handle the transfusion of blood from outside sources with great restraint. Should you be in receipt of a blood transfusion, you can be sure that there are relevant reasons for doing so. The benefits of a transfusion will then greatly outweigh the risks.
