Page 598 - Fluid, Electrolyte, and Acid-Base Disorders in Small Animal Practice

586 SPECIAL THERAPY

BOX 24-1 Veterinary Blood Banks

Buddies for Life (Michigan veterinary hospitals only) 215-573-PABB
248-334-6877 http://www.vet.upenn.edu/RyanHospital/
www.ovrs.com SpecialtyCareServices/BloodBank/tabid/432/Default.
Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank aspx
800-949-3822 The Pet Blood Bank
www.evbb.com 800-906-7059
Hemopet www.petshelpingpets.com
714-891-2022 The Veterinarian’s Blood Bank
www.hemopet.org 877-838-8533
Animal Blood Resources International (formerly http://vetbloodbank.com/index.html
Midwest Animal Blood Services and Animal Blood Bank) Hemosolutions
800 243-5759 719-380-1900
www.abrint.net www.hemosolutions.com
Penn Animal Blood Bank
BASICS OF BLOOD red blood cells (PRBCs) and plasma by differential centri-
COMPONENTS fugation in a refrigerated blood bank centrifuge, and the
plasma is transferred into one or more of the attached sat-
Blood is the body’s largest connective tissue. When col- ellite bags via the sterile tubing linking the bags. The bags
lected from the donor, it contains all the elements of are separated, and PRBCs are stored in a refrigerator and
blood: red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, coag- plasma is stored in a freezer. Blood collected into glass
ulation factors, immunoglobulins, and albumin. Whole bottles is not amenable to centrifugation and cannot be
blood can be transfused into the recipient as it is collected processed into components. Additionally, storage of
from the donor, but it is neither a specific therapy nor an canine blood in a glass bottle results in lower levels of
economical use of blood. The optimal method of preser- 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and adenosine triphosphate
vation of blood for transfusion is to separate whole blood (ATP) than blood stored in plastic bags; consequently,
into its component parts. Appropriate use of blood plastic bags are the preferred storage container for
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components not only conserves the products but also blood.
allows the most specific and safe product to be The most commonly used blood products, their
administered for each patient. When blood components indications, and suggested dosages are described later.
are used instead of whole blood for transfusion, two dogs The dosage of a blood product depends on the physical
can benefit from 1 unit of whole blood. A plasma trans- state of the patient and the response of the patient to
fusion counteracts the anticoagulant effects of rodenti- the treatment: in essence, the treatment is “to effect.”
cide intoxication in one dog, and red blood cells from WHOLE BLOOD
the same donor provides enhanced oxygen-carrying
capacity in a second, anemic dog. Component Whole blood is the blood collected from the donor plus
transfusions also have been used in cats, but preparation the anticoagulant. In veterinary medicine, no standards
of components is more difficult because of the small vol- have been established for the volume of blood that
ume of blood collected from donor cats. 23,53,68,99 constitutes 1 unit. When a human blood collection sys-
Production of components is not feasible for most vet- tem is used for dogs, 450 45 mL of blood is collected
erinary practices. Most will purchase their blood inven- and combined with 63 mL of anticoagulant, and often is
tory because they lack the time and equipment to designated as 1 unit. Whole blood contains red blood
recruit donors, and collect and process whole blood into cells, clotting factors, proteins, and platelets and is the
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components. Blood components predominate in the product most commonly transfused into dogs and cats.
inventory of commercial blood banks, requiring Once whole blood is refrigerated, the white blood cells
veterinarians to become familiar with their usage. and platelets become nonfunctional. As a starting point,
The technical aspects of component production are the dosage for whole blood is 10 to 22 mL/kg.
not included in this chapter but can be found else-
85,99 PACKED RED BLOOD CELLS
where. A brief summary follows. Preparation of
blood components from whole blood requires that the PRBCs are the cells and the small amount of plasma and
blood from the donor be collected into the anticoagu- anticoagulant that remains after the plasma is removed
lant-containing bag of a multibag plastic blood collection from 1 unit of whole blood. If 450 mL of blood are col-
system. The whole blood then is separated into packed lected, the volume of PRBCs obtained is approximately