Clinical Significance of Blood Transfusions in Animals: A Review

Blood transfusion is a simple form of transplantation. Blood transfusion therapy is carryout since long back to improve the oxygen carrying capacity and treat the clinical sign of anaemia. The clinical use of blood transfusion in veterinary practice has recently increased as an emergency life-saving modality because of easy access to blood products along the blood donors or stored blood substitutes. Animal should be screened properly for blood typing and cross matching before the blood transfusion. The quantity of blood has to be transfused based on the clinical status of the recipient animals. Administration of blood products carries an inherent risk of transmission of disease carried by the donor. A transfusion can be rejected and cause profound, potentially life- threatening complications in the recipient. The developments in the techniques for separating different components of the blood have made considerable advancements in demand based treatment in veterinary medicine.