Criteria for Clinical Transfusion Practice:Teaching of Transfusion Medicine

SUMMARYDevelopments in blood transfusion over the last two decades have been wide reaching. The variety of blood components available allows for a much more specific approach to each patient's needs. Safety parameters have to be taken into consideration in making choices, therefore knowledge of the risks of transfusion as well as of the availability of transfusion alternatives, is necessary. In addition, considerations of blood sufficiency or lack thereof, demand the use of transfusion, only in cases with proven efficacy. All these issues, well known to transfusion medicine specialists, are not necessarily registered by clinicians, many of whom, even today, consider blood transfusion a routine, simple and safe therapeutic maneuver. The European Union has emphasized in recent years the need for adoption by the EU states of similar criteria in the various areas of blood collection and transfusion, it was therefore of interest to inquire into transfusion practices in EU states and this was undertaken by the network of transfusion societies, EuroNet‐TMS, with the help of a questionnaire. Analysis of the responses reveals persistent heterogeneity in some areas, although there is a tendency for convergence.