Bloodless Medicine: Up and Coming Treatment in Health Care

Patients who choose bloodless medicine want to be treated without a blood transfusion or any major blood products that have been stored or provided by another doner. This alternative technique is an up and coming treatment in health care. Today, there are over 100 American medical centers known to offer their patient's bloodless medicine. Health care providers are now seeing the benefits of this alternative technique, and are making every effort to avoid the use of blood products whenever possible. Centers that usually don't focus on this technique, are also taking notice of bloodless medicine.

Who Can Be Treated with Bloodless Medicine?

Bloodless medicine is an alternative technique that has been done mainly on adult patients. The Children's Hospital Central California is changing this. It is the only independent pediatric hospital to develop a bloodless program that is bringing advanced bloodless techniques to pediatric patients. The benefits that have been found in mainly adults are now being done for the care of children.

Bloodless Techniques Before and During a Patient's Surgery

If a patient chooses bloodless medicine, there are techniques that a doctor can perform before and after surgery. A doctor can boost the red blood cell count prior to surgery, and optimize oxygen during the patient's surgery. Another option a doctor has is to gather and reuse the patient's blood during surgery.

Reasons and Benefits for Choosing Bloodless Medicine

Many are choosing bloodless medicine because they are fearful of transmitted diseases from blood that may be tainted. AIDS, hepatitis A, B, or C and syphilis are among a few of the diseases that can be transmitted through tainted blood. If a patient chooses bloodless medicine, they won't run the risk of receiving the wrong blood type or of having an allergic reaction which can be life-threatening. Also, a person may have a rare blood type that may be difficult to find, which would make bloodless medicine crucial to a patient's care. Bloodless medicine has been shown to reduce the length of a patient's hospital stay, and many have a quicker recovery. This alternative treatment is also cost-effective.

For more information on bloodless medicine go to:

www.childrenscentralcal.org
www.bloodlessmedicine.org
www.unipi.it
www.noblood.org.