Ensuring Adequate Blood Product Inventory: A Perioperative Perspective on Blood Banking, Transfusion Management, and Emerging Strategies for the Anesthesiologist.

Maintaining an adequate blood product inventory is a complex challenge that intersects blood bank operations, clinical decision-making, and systems-level institutional policy. Anesthesiologists occupy a uniquely influential position in blood stewardship, responsible for preoperative assessment, intraoperative management, and real-time transfusion decisions. This review examines the fundamentals of blood banking as they apply to perioperative practice, the epidemiology of blood product demand and shortage including the national crisis of type O blood depletion, and the evidence base for patient blood management programs. Emerging technologies and institutional considerations complete a comprehensive framework for the anesthesiologist committed to responsible and effective blood stewardship.