Table 3.

Risks associated with blood transfusion and manipulation

Theoretical	Demonstrated
Age of stored blood may affect its efficacy; the so-called ‘storage lesion’ [65]	Transfer of infectious diseases [40]
	Transfusion reactions/anaphylaxis
	Increase in colorectal cancer recurrence [66]
	Phlebitis [40]
	Septicaemia [40]
	Graft versus host disease (GvHD)
	Transfusion-related immunomodulation (TRIM) [67, 68]
	Hyper-viscosity PE and DVT [40]
	Air embolism [40]
	Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI)
	Risk of wrong blood (storage problems) [25]
	Detraining effect [40]
	Illegal practice to blood dope [25, 26]