SN3 SHORT NOTE 5M

Describe Blood Components in detail.

General Surgery · Final Professional

Component Therapy

Modern transfusion uses component therapy — separating donated blood into parts so that each patient receives only the component they need, using the donation efficiently and reducing volume/risk. The main non-red-cell products replace coagulation factors and platelets.

The Components

Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) contains all the clotting factors and is used for coagulopathy (e.g. Warfarin reversal when specific agents are unavailable, massive transfusion, DIC, liver disease).
Platelets treat thrombocytopenia or platelet dysfunction with bleeding.
Cryoprecipitate, prepared from FFP, is rich in fibrinogen, factor VIII, factor XIII and von Willebrand factor and is used for low fibrinogen (e.g. In massive haemorrhage/DIC).

CLINICAL PEARL

Match the product to the deficit: FFP for clotting factors, platelets for thrombocytopenia, and cryoprecipitate for fibrinogen — while packed red cells restore oxygen-carrying capacity.

Storage & Practicalities

The different blood components have different storage requirements that reflect their nature: red cells are refrigerated and last for several weeks, platelets are kept at room temperature with gentle agitation and last only a few days, and plasma products are frozen and must be thawed before use, which introduces a short delay in an emergency. These practicalities matter clinically — platelets and thawed plasma cannot simply be produced instantly, so in anticipated major haemorrhage they are requested early, and the massive transfusion protocol exists partly to ensure that the right balance of components is delivered promptly rather than red cells alone being given while coagulopathy develops.

CLINICAL PEARL

Match each product to its deficit — FFP for clotting factors, platelets for thrombocytopenia, cryoprecipitate for fibrinogen, red cells for oxygen carriage — and request the slower-to-provide plasma and platelets early in anticipated major bleeding.

In Brief

In short, give the component the patient actually lacks, and remember that plasma and platelets take time to prepare and so are ordered early.

Component therapy treats the specific deficit and conserves supply.

Component	Shelf life / storage	Main indication
Packed red cells	35–42 days at 2–6°C	Symptomatic anaemia, blood loss
Platelet concentrate	5 days at 20–24°C, agitated	Thrombocytopenia with bleeding
Fresh frozen plasma	1 year at −30°C	Coagulation factor deficiency
Cryoprecipitate	1 year at −30°C	Fibrinogen, factor VIII, vWF

KEY POINT

Key points TO remember

Component therapy gives only the needed part (efficient, lower volume/risk).
FFP: all clotting factors (coagulopathy, massive transfusion, DIC, liver disease).
Platelets: thrombocytopenia/platelet dysfunction with bleeding.
Cryoprecipitate: fibrinogen, factor VIII/XIII, vWF (low fibrinogen).

EXAM TIP

Sources: Morgan & Mikhail’s Clinical Anesthesiology; Miller’s Anesthesia; Ajay Yadav’s Short Textbook of Anaesthesia.

All questions in Fluids, Electrolytes & Blood Transfusion

Every General Surgery chapter →