Blood Components for Pediatric Transfusions

摘要

Blood transfusion plays an important role in the treatment of sick children, just as do pharmaceutical medications, intravenous fluids, and nutritional supplements. Unlike these therapeutic tools, however, blood is not manufactured in a factory but obtained from volunteer donors. Today, donated blood is rarely transfused as whole blood, and individual components are most often transfused to address the specific needs of the recipient. Blood can be obtained first as a whole blood donation with subsequent separation into components via centrifugation, or specific blood components can be directly obtained via apheresis.