Blood Transfusion Risks in the Elderly

Date: 2025-01-28

Author: Jeremy Rodriguez

Category:

While blood transfusions can be necessary for older adults, there are also risks that can be cause for concern. What could be the reason for blood transfusion in the elderly? Is a blood transfusion for anemia in the elderly dangerous? In this post, we’ll review the side effects of blood transfusions in the elderly.

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Reasons for Blood Transfusion in Elderly

Reasons for a blood transfusion in the elderly include:

A serious injury that caused major blood loss
Surgery that’s caused a loss of blood
A liver problem that makes your body unable to create certain blood parts
A bleeding disorder, such as hemophilia
An illness, such as anemia that causes reduced or poor-quality RBCs (Anemia in the elderly blood transfusion may be necessary because anemia is associated with decreased muscle strength, limited bone density, and decreased quality of life)
Kidney failure, which causes problems with blood cell production
Cancer treatment that slows down the body’s production of blood cells

Now that we have pinpointed a possible reason for blood transfusion in the elderly, let’s talk about how to prepare for the procedure.

Preparing for a Blood Transfusion

Preparing for a blood transfusion is usually simple, but there are a few important steps to keep in mind. These include:

Inform your healthcare provider of past reactions. You may be given medication to help prevent an allergic response.
Sign the consent form. This must be completed by you or a designated family member.
Blood type testing. Your blood may be tested to ensure compatibility with the donor blood. This can be done by pricking your finger for a few drops of blood or drawing blood from a vein in your arm.

Next, let’s review blood transfusion risks in the elderly.

Blood Transfusions in the Elderly Risks

Risks of blood transfusion in the elderly include:

Allergic reactions. Symptoms range from mild hives to life-threatening anaphylaxis.
Blood type incompatibility. If the donor and recipient blood types do not match, severe reactions can occur. This risk may be higher in older adults due to existing medical conditions, making proper blood matching essential.
Fever. This is usually temporary and can happen within a day of the blood transfusion.
Fluid overload/hypervolemia. Older adults are more susceptible to fluid overload, which can cause edema and lead to congestive heart failure or pulmonary complications.
Graft-versus-host disease. This serious, but rare, condition is when the new, donated blood cells attack cells in the body. Symptoms, such as fever and rash, can start within a month of the blood transfusion.
Hemolytic reactions. These occur when the recipient’s immune system attacks transfused red blood cells. Though rare, hemolytic reactions — especially febrile nonhemolytic reactions — can be life-threatening.
Infection. Blood transfusions carry a risk of infection, which can be particularly concerning for elderly patients with weakened immune systems. Careful screening of donor blood helps minimize this risk.
Iron overload. Repeated transfusions can lead to excess iron accumulation, which may be problematic for older adults with liver or heart disease.
Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). This rare, but severe immune response to transfused blood components can lead to acute respiratory distress.