Blood transfusion
Intravenous transference of blood products / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Blood transfusions?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously.[1] Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but modern medical practice commonly uses only components of the blood, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, platelets, and other clotting factors.
Blood transfusion | |
---|---|
ICD-9-CM | 99.0 |
MeSH | D001803 |
OPS-301 code | 8-80 |
MedlinePlus | 000431 |
Red blood cells (RBC) contain hemoglobin and supply the cells of the body with oxygen. White blood cells are not commonly used during transfusions, but they are part of the immune system and also fight infections. Plasma is the "yellowish" liquid part of blood, which acts as a buffer and contains proteins and other important substances needed for the body's overall health. Platelets are involved in blood clotting, preventing the body from bleeding. Before these components were known, doctors believed that blood was homogeneous. Because of this scientific misunderstanding, many patients died because of incompatible blood transferred to them.