Principles of Supportive Haemotherapy

Abstract

The safe and adequate supply of blood, blood components and plasma products is indispensable to a variety of medical disciplines. The term haemotherapy is commonly used to indicate the administration of whole blood, cellular blood components, plasma and plasma products as well as certain synthetic products which may replace blood substances. When used in patients who suffer from hereditary or acquired deficiency of certain blood or plasma components such as factor VIII or immunoglobulins, the aim is to correct the lacking factor or component thereby decreasing the risk of e.g., bleeding, infection, or shock. This correction is, however, temporarily due to the limited life span of the administered blood or plasma component. The adjective curative or definitive can only be used restrictive in the context of haemotherapy although in recent years there is evidence that some plasma components (such as immunoglobulins) may cure certain autoimmune diseases. Supportive haemotherapy is used when other treatment modalities, such as irradiation, cytostatic drugs, surgical procedures, affect the volume and the composition of circulating blood or blood cell precursors to such an extent that the clinical condition deteriorates. In clinical practice the distinction between the different types of haemotherapy, i.e. corrective, curative and supportive, is usually not strict. The term supportive haemotherapy is commonly used for a large variety of situations where transfusion of blood, blood components and plasma derivatives is required.