Doctors inaugurate the seminar at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna on Friday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, April 15: Blood donated by volunteers can be safer for a patient than the blood of a family member. Unnecessary blood donation can lead to complex problems.

These were among many subjects discussed at a daylong seminar on appropriate clinical use of blood components, organised jointly by the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) and the blood safety wing of Bihar State AIDS Control Society on the IGIMS campus today.

Dr Arun Kumar, the director of IGIMS said a modern blood bank and a blood bank unit was urgently required at the institution.

Dr Rajendra Chaudhary, head of department of transfusion medicine, Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, spoke about the rational use of blood components in clinical practice. He said transfusion of a specific part of blood, taking individual patients’ needs into account, will get maximum benefits at a minimum risk.

“Blood transfusion can be a life-saving intervention. However, like all treatments, it may result in acute or delayed complications and carries the risk of transfusion- transmissible infections, including hepatitis viruses, HIV, syphilis and malaria. Blood is often unnecessarily given to raise a patient’s haemoglobin level before surgery or to allow an early discharge from the hospital. These are rarely reasons for transfusion,” a doctor said.

He added: “Transfusions of whole blood, red cells or plasma are often given when other treatments, such as the infusion of normal saline or other intravenous replacement fluids would be safer, less expensive and equally effective for the treatment of acute blood loss. A patient’s transfusion requirements can often be minimised by good anaesthetic and surgical management. If blood is given when it is not required, the patient receives no benefit and is exposed to unnecessary risks.”

Speakers stressed on the transfusion of safe blood products that should be carried out only to treat a condition leading to significant morbidity or mortality that cannot be prevented or managed effectively by other means.