Understanding Your Blood Choices
Your Directive covers 10 blood products and procedures. For each one, you choose Accept, Refuse, or Personal Decision (defer to your Healthcare Agent). Learn what each one is before you decide.
Primary Components
The four main components of donated blood. These are the products most commonly transfused.
Whole Blood
Complete donated blood containing all components — red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma.
→Packed Red Blood Cells
Concentrated red blood cells separated from whole blood. The most commonly transfused blood component.
→Plasma
The liquid portion of blood containing proteins, clotting factors, and antibodies.
→Platelets
Cell fragments that help blood clot. Often given to patients with low platelet counts or active bleeding.
→Blood Fractions
Smaller derivatives extracted from primary blood components. Whether to accept these is considered a personal decision by many.
Albumin
A protein fraction derived from donated blood plasma. Used to maintain blood volume and oncotic pressure.
→Immunoglobulins
Antibody proteins extracted from donated plasma. Used to boost immune response or treat autoimmune conditions.
→Clotting Factors
Specific proteins extracted from plasma that help blood clot. Essential for treating hemophilia and other bleeding disorders.
→Autologous Procedures
Techniques that use your own blood rather than donor blood. No allogeneic transfusion involved.
Cell Salvage
A technique that collects blood lost during surgery, washes and filters it, then returns it to the patient. No donor blood involved.
→Hemodilution
Blood is drawn immediately before surgery and replaced with IV fluids. The blood is returned to the patient after surgery, reducing the loss of concentrated blood.
→Heart-Lung Bypass
Blood is circulated through an external machine (cardiopulmonary bypass) during cardiac surgery. The patient's own blood is used throughout.
→