What to Expect During a Blood Transfusion
Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero serves as the vice chair for clinical research and the medical director of perioperative quality and patient safety in the Department of Anesthesiology of Stony Brook Medicine in Stony Brook, New York. In addition to this work, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero performs research in the safety and effectiveness of blood transfusions.
A blood transfusion replaces blood and increases a patient’s blood count, which makes the transfusion a potentially life-saving measure. Patients usually receive the blood through an IV line in a hospital, although a technician must first determine the patient’s blood type.
A transfusion can take from one to four hours, depending on the amount of blood the patient needs. In the first 15 minutes of the transfusion, if the patient experiences fever, chills, itching, back pain, or difficulty breathing, the procedure will be immediately stopped.
A doctor or nurse may take the patient’s vital signs several times during the transfusion. After the procedure, the doctor or nurse will check the patient’s vital signs again. Some patients may experience soreness or develop bruises near the IV puncture.
