Historia de la transfusión. Participación de la medicina militar española.

Spanish military medicine Corp has played an important role in the development of hemotherapy in Spain. The objective of this paper is to summarize the evolution of this medical specialty throughout 20th and 21st centuries conflicts. During the Spanish civil war, Durán on the Republican side and Elósegui on the National side, were the main protagonists of transfusion medicine. In the Second World War, military healthcare had to adapt to German guidelines, beginning transfusion in surgical facilities on the front. Throughout the Ifni-Sahara conflict, whole blood and plasma were transfused to the casualties, with support being insufficient during Edchera battle. The participation of Spanish military health in the Vietnam War was anecdotal, but sufficient to prove that hemotherapy support fell to the American armed forces and occasionally whole blood was transfused to the wounded. There was specific Spanish support for Argentina in the Falklands War as sixty units of blood were sent in glass vials to the South American country. Throughout the Balkan conflict, Spanish military healthcare received a weekly shipment of blood components that were usually donated to civilian hospitals if they had not been used for casualties treated by Spanish doctors. Blood products employ in the Iraq war was anecdotal, however, this situation changed during the Afghanistan war. The isolation inherent to the naval environment generates important logistical problems that must be resolved. Finally, the scientific activity generated in the field of Spanish military hemotherapy has had its impact at the national level, promoting the creation of this medical specialty and service in the military environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]