Effects of Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers on Blood Coagulation

For many decades, Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) have been central in the development of resuscitation agents that might provide oxygen delivery in addition to simple volume expansion. Since 80% of the world population lives in areas where fresh blood products are not available, the application of these new solutions may prove to be highly beneficial (Kim and Greenburg 2006). Many improvements have been made to earlier generation HBOCs, but various concerns still remain, including coagulopathy, nitric oxide scavenging, platelet interference and decreased calcium concentration secondary to volume expansion (Jahr et al. 2013). This review will summarize the current challenges faced in developing HBOCs that may be used clinically, in order to guide future research efforts in the field.