Ronald Jackups, MD, PhD, about the blood
supply at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Philip Spinella served twelve years in the United States military, including a year treating traumatic injuries in the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad. During his deployment, he was also part of a small group of physicians evaluating transfusion practices in treating hemorrhagic shock resulting from battlefield injuries.
Spinella co-authored multiple studies with others from his group indicating that transfusion of red blood cells stored for a prolonged period may be associated with an increase in complications and mortality. One such report concluded that fresh whole blood was preferable to the stored blood components (red cells, platelets, and plasma) that had been shipped from the states. These cells had been stored for longer than 21 days, with median storage time of 33 days. The report concluded that while the risk of viral infection from fresh blood was very slightly higher even after prescreening, fresh whole blood was superior to aged cells in terms of improved physiological effects such as cardiac output and better clinical outcomes.
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