Medical Advancements With Blood

[Forever Atlas]

If you were having a medical procedure done and had blood loss, what would your choice for medical treatment be?

A local hospital down by me has recently introduced a new program, a Blood conservation program. This is a program that is sweeping hospitals worldwide. It's nothing new to my city or me but new to a very prominent line of medical care centers. These programs have been a progressive project in the medical community for years, but for many people even many doctors this may be a new concept, or even one hard to grasp.

For decades past, blood transfusions have been used in a lot of major medical procedures as a standard medical procedure. More recently, hospitals and medical centers are using blood transfusions as a last resort. Instead they are using bloodless alternatives to treat their patients. Religious groups that have refused transfusions have played a major role in these developments. There are several advancements made giving patients the alternatives rather than a blood transfusion.

Doctors are more freely giving these options to all patients be they religious objectors or not because of the many benefits to alternatives. Now there are times when doctors may feel that blood is the only option but (as was noted at the start) this is one of the last resorts.

A broad view of some alternatives include:

Fluids: Ringer's lactate solution, dextran, hydroxyethyl starch, and others are used to maintain blood volume, preventing hypovolemic shock. Some fluids now being tested can transport oxygen.


Drugs: Genetically engineered proteins can stimulate the production of red blood cells (erythropoietin), blood platelets (interleukin-11), and various white blood cells (GM-CSF, G-CSF). Other medications greatly reduce blood loss during surgery (aprotinin, antifibrinolytics) or help to reduce acute bleeding (desmopressin).


Biological hemostats: Collagen and cellulose woven pads are used to stop bleeding by direct application. Fibrin glues and sealants can plug puncture wounds or cover large areas of bleeding tissue.


Blood salvage: Salvaging machines recover blood that is lost during surgery or trauma. The blood is cleansed and can be returned to the patient in a closed circuit. In extreme cases, liters of blood can be recovered using such a system.


Surgical techniques: Thorough operative planning, including consultation with experienced clinicians, helps the surgical team to avoid complications. Prompt action to stop bleeding is essential. Delays greater than 24 hours can greatly increase patient mortality. Dividing large surgeries into several smaller ones decreases total blood loss.


Surgical tools: Some devices cut and seal blood vessels simultaneously. Other devices can seal bleeding on large areas of tissue. Laparoscopic and minimally invasive instruments allow surgeries to be performed without the blood loss associated with large incisions

A few videos on this topic also:

No Blood--Medicine Meets the Challenge

No Blood--Medicine Meets the Challenge Pt. 2

Transfusion-Alternative Health Care--Meeting Patient Needs and Rights

Website dedicated to Bloodless advancements (there are many but I always found this one to be one of the better formed ones):

NoBlood - Transfusion alternatives. Blood management.

What do you think about this? Would it be something you would do instead of the transfusions?

Im sure there are many other articles on this you can find. So if you would like, I would like to hear opinions on this new advancement.


(please note that just because I did get these videos from a religious source do not turn this into a religious topic. This is purely about medicine and medical practices. If this was meant to be a religious debate I know where it would go. So for those of you who have a habit of doing things like that just because of some grudge, please do not)

[Phoenix]

That's a very good thing. As we've discussed in the past, my only beef with this has been that sometimes they refuse the blood transfusions for children, even if they're the only alternative. This way, we all win.

Blood substitutes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We're getting there, we are, though we definitely have way to go. Science will eventually make something even better than blood, so don't worry =/

[Ulti]

Trailblazing off the path of evolution again I see.

But morally, I should be happy to learn of this.

[krexia]

Originally Posted by Forever Atlas

What do you think about this? Would it be something you would do instead of the transfusions?

If my doctors say it would be safe for me to use a bloodless alternative during surgery, then sure, I'd choose that rather than wasting blood that could otherwise save lives. As a regular blood donor I've seen just how hard bloodbanks have to campaign to keep up their supplies.

[Tenyasyugan]

As a person with O type blood, I'm a very likely candidate for blood donation, even though I'm deathly afraid of needles...

This technology shows how well we're doing in the medical fields. I especially like the salvaging machine, reduce the rate of bleeding to death.