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Blood Transfusion & Blood Bank Concern for Heart Surgery Patients

Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Medical Expert: Edward Soltesz, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Page Last Updated: July 15, 2025

In the past, we have discussed blood bank safety and concerns about blood transfusions during heart surgery.

The Epoch Times recently reported, "Mounting evidence that routinely giving blood transfusions to patients could actually increase their risk of death or other heart surgery complications has prompted calls for medical staff to be more cautious about who they administer transfusions to."

The U.K. study of almost 9,000 heart surgery patients supports this finding, and indicates a six-fold increase in the risk of death after 30 days with a three-fold increase in the risk within one year following surgery. Transfusions were also associated with more infections and higher incidences of stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure. These complications were usually linked to a lack of oxygen to body tissues.

This is important for patients and caregivers to consider because patients typically have the option of donating their own blood (in advance of the operation) or using the hospital blood bank if a transfusion is required during your surgery.

That said, I found this information very interesting and was interested to learn more. For that reason, I connected with Dr. Edward Soltesz, a leading cardiac surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. Here are the highlights of my interview with Dr. Soltesz about blood transfusions:

Here are several additional links to help you learn more about blood bank safety and actual patient stories about blood transfusions.

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

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