ABSTRACT
The first documented animal-to-animal (dog) blood transfusion was performed at Oxford in 1665 by Richard Lower, followed by the first animal-to-human blood transfusion in 1667 by Jean-Baptiste Denis. James Blundell performed the first human-to-human blood transfusion in 1818. Landsteiner classified the ABO blood grouping system in the year 1900 and, based on this, Ottenberg did the first pre-transfusion crossmatch in 1907. During World War I (1914-1918), Rous and Turner at the Rockefeller Institute developed a preservative solution for whole blood. By June 1917, Dr Robertson (Rous' student) arrived in France with Base Hospital 5. Over the next eight months, Robertson clinically tested a transfusion technique using preserved blood in glass jars carried to the front in specially designed cases. The method was accepted immediately, and by the ceasefire, transfusion was used frequently on the frontline (or during perioperative period). Landsteiner and Wiener discovered the Rh blood group in 1940. The use of whole blood in civilian settings has been limited, mainly due to the preference for fractionated components as a treatment for specific deficits (e.g., packed red blood cells (RBCs) for anaemia, fresh frozen plasma (FFP) to replace lost/consumed clotting factors, etc.). Since the early twentieth century, millions of units of blood products — as well as countless units of fluids — have been administered in hospitals worldwide. Even today, fluids remain the main treatment for casualties worldwide during pre- and in-hospital treatment.
