About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffIn a blood transfusion, donated blood is added to your own blood. A blood transfusion may also be done to supplement various components of your blood with donated blood products. Sometimes a blood transfusion is done with blood that you've donated ahead of time before you undergo surgery.
During a typical blood transfusion, whole blood or certain parts of blood are infused through an intravenous (IV) line and needle that's placed in one of the veins in your arm. A blood transfusion usually takes one to two hours, though in an emergency it can be done much faster.
A blood transfusion boosts blood levels that are low, either because your body isn't making enough or because blood has been lost during surgery, injury or disease.
- Blood transfusion. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/bt/bt_all.html. Accessed Nov. 4, 2009.
- Blood transfusion. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/attachments/National/br_1144786293.pdf. Accessed Nov. 4, 2009.
- Why cancer patients might need blood product transfusions. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4x_Why_Cancer_Patients_Might_Need_Blood_Product_Transfusions.asp?sitearea=ETO. Accessed Nov. 4, 2009.
- Katz EA. Blood transfusion: Friend or foe. Advanced Critical Care. 2009;20:155.
- Rawn J. The silent risks of blood transfusion. Current Opinion in Anesthesiology. 2008;21:664.
- Blood component transfusion: What it involves. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4X_Blood_Transfusion.asp?sitearea=ETO. Accessed Nov. 4, 2009.
- Possible risks of blood product transfusions. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4x_Possible_Risks_of_Blood_Product_Transfusions.asp?sitearea=ETO. Accessed Nov. 4, 2009.
- Blood and its components. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4X_Blood_And_Its_Components.asp. Accessed Nov. 28, 2009.
- Jacob EK (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 11, 2009.
- Anderson CF (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 10, 2009.
Find Mayo Clinic on