Blood transfusion: The challenges for tomorrow?

As any theropeutic means, blood transfusion requires regular evaluation, particularly for its indications, effectiveness and risks. The availability of randomized clinical trials, the evolution of the quality of blood components, and the economic constraints shared by all countries, all lead to rethink both transfusion therapy as a whole and the organization of the transfusion chain from donor to recipient. The main tools available to improve transfusion and the transfusion chain management are the following: programs of patient blood management (PBM) to optimize the use of blood products with a patient centred approach, blood supply management tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the transfusion chain, donor management tools to adapt donor collections to the patients' needs in compliance with safety requirements for patients and donors, and coordination of these activities. A better understanding of these tools and their implementation will certainly be major challenges for transfusion medicine in the near future. Integrating these evolutions in regulations through the revision of the European Directives on blood and blood components (the review process is expected to be launched in 2015) should enroll them in the long term, for the benefit of patients, donors and all other stakeholders involved in the transfusion chain.