A PRACTICAL METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE AMOUNT OF BLOOD PASSING OVER DURING DIRECT TRANSFUSION

It is obvious that it would be a great improvement in the therapeutic application of direct blood transfusion if there were some accurate method of determining, during the actual course of the transfusion, how much blood is being transfused. As with all forms of medication, so with transfusion, the correct dosage may be the determining factor in obtaining a proper therapeutic result.Up to the present there has been no such method, and surgeons have generally followed some rough and ready rule, such as to transfuse for from fifteen to forty-five minutes, or until the donor showed distinct signs of acute anemia, or until the percentage of the patient's hemoglobin showed a rise.An accurate method of estimating the amount being transfused would be of especial importance from two points of view: (1) in order to avoid any danger to the donor from the taking of an excessive amount of