Whole blood transfusion in the United States dates back to the Civil War, and it was
widely used in all major conflicts since World War I. To understand our current civilian
transfusion practices and to anticipate future changes in trauma resuscitation, it
is important to understand the series of decisions that led trauma surgeons away from
whole blood resuscitation and toward component therapy. In this review, we examine
the historical basis for blood transfusion in trauma and examine the recent literature
and future directions pertaining to blood product resuscitation in hemorrhaging patients.
Keywords
trauma - whole blood - blood products - transfusion - component therapy - balanced
resuscitation