Vigilance of alternatives to blood components

Abstract

SUMMARY To help minimize the risks of blood component transfusion various techniques have been developed. These novel therapies have focused on the use of autologous transfusion techniques and the use of pharmacologic agents to reduce bleeding and therefore reduce transfusion requirements. These have the potential to drastically reduce transfusion requirements and benefit patients enormously. However, it is important that these therapies are not considered risk-free and auditing their safety and monitoring their use is essential. There is a need to develop a hemovigilance reporting system to identify and quantify adverse effects associated with the use of these transfusion alternatives.