- Complications Of Blood Administration

2, 3 DPG deficit:

Now here's something only an ICU nurse would care to think about!  2, 3 DPG basically lowers the affinity for O2 to HGB, without it, those little truckloads of oxygen would just cruise around and never dump their load.  So when the 2, 3 DPG level is too low, the oxygen doesn't make it to the cellsthat need it.  As a unit of blood gets older, the stored RBCs ability to produce this enzyme diminish.  Clinical signs of this are bright red venous blood (because the HGB is overly saturated with O2, like with arterial blood), and an increase in SVO2 (-duh).  The fix is too call the blood bank and tell them you want some of the good stuff (collected in the last 24 hours).