- Blood-based products
A blood product (or blood-based product) is any component of blood which is collected from a donor for use in a blood transfusion. Blood transfusions can be life-saving in some situations, such as massive blood loss due to trauma, or can be used to replace blood lost during surgery. Blood transfusions may also be used to treat a severe anaemia or thrombocytopenia caused by a blood disease. People with hemophilia usually need a replacement of clotting factor, which is a small part of whole blood. People with sickle-cell disease may require frequent blood transfusions. Early blood transfusions consisted of whole blood, but modern medical practice commonly uses only components of the blood, such as fresh frozen plasma or cryoprecipitate.