Blood Type May Play Role in Post-Trauma Death Risk

While the study is preliminary, Japanese researcher Dr. Wataru Takayama said the "results also raise questions about how emergency transfusion of O type red blood cells to a severe trauma patient could affect homeostasis, the process which causes bleeding to stop, and if this is different from other blood types."

According to the American Red Cross, type O is the most common blood type, found in about 45 percent of white people, and more than 50 percent of blacks and Hispanics. It's also the most useful blood type for transfusions because type O negative blood is suitable for use by any recipient -- it's the "universal red cell donor" type.

But the research team from Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital might have found one downside to type O. Their research focused on the medical records of more than 900 patients treated for severe trauma.

Death rates were 28 percent for those with blood type O but just 11 percent for those with other blood types, the researchers reported May 1 in the journal Critical Care.

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https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20180502/blood-type-may-play-role-in-post-trauma-death-risk