Blood Substitute as Effective as Real Thing in Trauma Patients, Study Finds

A blood substitute was found to be just as effective as donated blood in the first direct comparison of seriously injured, bleeding trauma patients, according to a study in the August edition of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. In the study, 44 trauma patients received either the blood substitute PolyHeme or donated red blood cells to replace the blood they were losing.

PolyHeme, made from the hemoglobin in unused human donor blood, was developed by Northfield Laboratories Inc. of Evanston, Ill. The research team found that six units of the substitute could be given safely to trauma patients as their initial blood replacement.

Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II