INTRAPERITONEAL BLOOD TRANSFUSION

The value of blood transfusion in many clinical conditions no longer needs to be defended. The earlier method of transfer of the circulating blood directly from the vessel of the donor to that of the recipient has been supplanted for the most part by procedures that involve less complicated operative technic and therefore somewhat less highly specialized surgical skill. Clotting of removed blood can now be conveniently and effectively retarded until the final steps of the transfusion are completed. The severe reactions of earlier experiences are averted by the careful selection and typing of the donors, so that "incompatibilities" of the bloods involved can be averted. Despite these advances, as a recent writer¹ has pointed out, the technical difficulties involved in the intravenous administration of blood to infants are so great as practically to limit its frequent use to well equipped hospitals with specially trained staffs, and are such