Transfusion medicine in dogs and cats: products, collection and administration
Abstract
Many veterinary hospitals have permanent canine and/or feline blood donors to cover their transfusion requirements and some have their own blood bank. Hospitals must ensure there is appropriate donor selection and screening, as there are inherent risks of transmission of infectious agents and of causing adverse reactions.
All donors should be fully vaccinated and receive regular veterinary preventative health care. A full physical examination should be performed by a veterinary surgeon prior to each donation, and should be unremarkable. Donors should also be screened for infectious diseases.
Blood collection and component preparation can be labour intensive and time consuming. It is of great importance to know the properties of the different blood products available in transfusion medicine, as well as how they might be used to achieve the best results in clinical practice. Veterinary nurses must know how to administer blood and blood products safely to their patients. Blood products are prepared from donor animals and represent a very limited resource, not available in all situations.
Through a combination of rigorous donor screening, individualized blood product selection, and careful monitoring, veterinary nurses can minimize the risks and enhance the benefits of transfusion.
Blood banking offers clear advantages to the veterinary surgeon, patient and donor in terms of both convenience and the ability to tailor blood products to an individual animal's needs, maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risk of complications associated with transfusion.
Blood banking systems ensure there is appropriate donor screening and typing and increase the products available for an individual patient. Many veterinary hospitals have permanent canine and/or feline blood donors to cover their transfusion requirements and some have their own blood bank.
Component therapy involves splitting a unit of whole blood into its parts, most commonly packed red blood cells (RBCs) and plasma. The development of component therapy allows tailoring of transfusion therapy to the patient's needs, allows a single unit to help more than one patient.
Blood components are prepared from a single donation of blood by simple physical separation methods, such as centrifugation, generally within 8 hours from collection (Giger, 2000). Blood component preparation is best accomplished by using plastic blood bags with satellite transfer containers in order to assure sterility (Knottenbelt and Helm, 2010).
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting The Veterinary Nurse and reading some of our peer-reviewed content for veterinary professionals. To continue reading this article, please register today.