Blood Components Descriptions & Indications
Transfusion medicine
| Component |
Function |
Indication |
Additional Information |
| Red Blood Cells (RBC) |
Carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, and carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs | Symptomatic anemia not treatable within a reasonable amount of time considering the patient’s symptoms, with specific therapy such as iron, vitamin B12, folic acid or erythropoietin | Requires type and crossmatch (non-urgent situations) Monitoring requires evaluation of hemoglobin/hematocrit and physical assessment of patient |
| Plasma (Thawed Plasma or Fresh Frozen Plasma/FFP) | Fluid portion of that contains coagulation factors required for proper clot formation | Bleeding or imminent invasive procedures with clinically significant coagulopathy, treatment or prevention of coagulopathy in massive transfusion, factor deficiency when concentrate unavailable, or plasma exchange (especially for TTP) | Requires historical ABO (non-urgent situations) Monitoring requires evaluation of PT/INR, a PTT (if indicated) and physical assessment of patient |
| Platelets | Small megakaryocyte fragments required for proper clot formation | Treatment of thrombocytopenia, platelet function abnormalities, or bleeding due to thrombocytopenia | Requires historical ABO/Rh type (non-urgent situations Monitoring requires evaluation of platelet count and physical assessment of patient. |
| Cryoprecipitate | Prepared from plasma, contains fibrinogen, factor VIII, von Willebrand factor and small amounts of factor XIII and fibronectin | Treatment or prevention of bleeding due to hypofibrinogenemia and in disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) | Monitoring requires evaluation of Fibrinogen level and physical assessment of patient |
| Granulocytes | White blood cells (neutrophils) obtained by apheresis from designated ABO-Rh compatible donor | Indicated for severe neutropenia with a documented life threatening bacterial or fungal infection not responsive to appropriate antimicrobial therapy | Begin transfusion ASAP, must be transfused within 24 hours of collection Monitoring requires evaluation of granulocyte count and physical assessment of patient |
