The management of chest pain in the accident and emergency department.

Abstract

Short the UK for either the initial resuscitation or the reports ongoing treatment of major trauma patients. Trauma patients make significant demands on blood bank stocks. Homologous blood transfusion is not entirely without risks, e.g. transmission of infection and both haemolytic and non-haemolytic transfusion reactions. Cross-matching of blood takes at least 45 min in most centres and transfusion of group specific blood in life-threatening circumstances is known to be associated with an increased risk of adverse reactions. It is therefore surprising that greater use of autotransfusion has not been made in such patients. A review of the recent American literature confirms the use of autotransfusion in trauma centres there. Its use is still evolving in terms of determining which patients are most likely to benefit. A study in Denver,