Due to the loss of blood during major heart surgeries patients often need a transfusion of red blood cells to recuperate. There has been a mixed view whether stored blood is safe for the transfusion or not. The new study emerged has shown that the stored blood not older than 42 days is safe for transfusion. The red blood cells (RBCs) undergo a lot of changes when stored in blood banks.
These changes effectively reduce the oxygen carrying capacity of the RBCs. However, it was unclear till date whether these changes directly affect patient treatment outcomes after they receive the blood transfusion of a stored blood. In India, as per the national guidelines, RBCs with additional components such as NUTRICEL, ADSOL, can be stored up to 42 days. The scientists from Karolinska Institutet recently published a study which was conducted to assess whether the stored blood is safe for the…
