Transfusion of Blood

Transfusion of Blood consists in the transference of blood from the veins (or arteries) of a healthy person to one whose blood is so impoverished as to endanger life. The earliest case on record is, so far as we know, that of Pope Innocent VIII., who is said to have been unsuccessfully operated on in April 1492. In 1667 the operation was performed both in France and England, apparently with success; but it again fell into oblivion till 1824, when Dr Blundell, in his Researches, proved the feasibility of the process. Since that time it has been regarded as a legitimate operation, and has frequently been successful in apparently hopeless cases; but the difficulties attending it are sufficiently indicated by the number of different procedures and kinds of apparatus devised for its performance. It has been used most frequently and successfully in cases of profuse hæmorrhage after child-birth; but also in many other conditions—e.g. phthisis, puerperal fever, pernicious anaemia, poisoning by agents which destroy the blood-corpuscles or impair their activity. The blood of the lower animals has been shown to be unsuitable for this purpose, and sometimes dangerous. The first requisite, therefore, is to find a healthy person able to spare blood enough for the purpose. Saline solutions, pure water, and milk have been used; the last is strongly recommended by Professor Thomas of New York. But though their mechanical effect is sometimes sufficient to tide over the crisis, they do not supply the deficiency in blood-corpuscles. The chief difficulty in the performance of the operation is the prevention of coagulation of the blood before it reaches the blood-vessels of the patient. This has been surmounted in three ways: (1) by direct transfusion—i.e. rapid transference through a short tube; (2) by the addition of chemical substances which prevent coagulation; (3) by removing the fibrin before injection (see BLOOD). See C. E. Jennings, Transfusion of Blood and Saline Fluids (3d ed. 1888).