Transfusion medicine handbook

3. Guide to Good Transfusion Practice

Overview

Both blood components and fractionated products are biologic material and, in the case of components containing blood cells, are living human tissues. They are medicines intended for use by medical practitioners, mātanga tapuhi nurse practitioners and registered midwives in the treatment of patients.

Blood transfusion therapy has had a central role in the advances and practice of modern medicine. As in other areas of clinical medicine, prescribers need to consider both the benefits and risks of blood transfusion. Professional judgement based on clinical evaluation determines selection of blood components and fractionated products, dosage, rate of administration and sometimes other decisions in situations not covered in this general introduction to blood transfusion practice.

The presence of contaminants such as immunogenic cellular and protein elements, viable donor cells and infectious agents in blood cannot be totally avoided and indeed may cause undesirable side effects in some recipients. The information in this handbook cannot therefore be considered or interpreted as an expressed or implied warranty of the safety or fitness of the described blood components or fractionated products when used for their intended purpose.