The Dead Sea needs salt water… massively bleeding patients need whole blood: The evolution of blood product resuscitation

Whole blood, that is blood that is not manufactured into its component red blood cells (RBC) plasma, and platelets (PLT) units, was the mainstay of transfusion for many years until it was discovered that the component parts of a blood donation could be stored under different conditions thereby optimizing the storage length of each product. The use of low anti-A and -B titer group O whole blood (LTOWB) has recently been rediscovered for use in massively bleeding trauma patients. Whole blood has several advantages over conventional component therapy for these patients, including simplifying the logistics of the resuscitation, being more concentrated than whole blood that is reconstituted from conventional components, and providing cold-stored PLTs, amongst other benefits. While randomized controlled trials to determine the efficacy of using LTOWB in the resuscitation of massively bleeding trauma patients are currently underway, retrospective data has shown that massively bleeding recipients of LTOWB with traumatic injury do not have worse outcomes compared to patients who received conventional components and, in some cases, recipients of LTOWB have more favourable outcomes. This paper will describe some of the advantages of using LTOWB and will discuss the emerging evidence for its use in massively bleeding patients.