Türkoğlu Baki, Ünlü Mustafa Girayhan, Çamur Murat, Coşkun Ali Kağan, Ünlü Aytekin
Department of General Surgery, University of Health Sciences Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Türkey.
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Health Sciences Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Türkey.
Transfusion. 2025 Jul;65(7):1373-1376. doi: 10.1111/trf.18279. Epub 2025 May 10.
Hemorrhage is a leading cause of preventable deaths in combat settings, requiring rapid blood transfusion to improve survival. While the feasibility of drone-assisted medical logistics has been explored, its practical application in battlefield transfusion remains unreported.
This case report describes the first documented massive transfusion in a combat environment using an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A 27-year-old soldier sustained severe lower limb injuries from an improvised explosive device explosion and developed hemorrhagic shock in a remote battlefield location where adverse weather conditions prevented immediate evacuation. In response, 6 units of whole blood and 2 units of fresh frozen plasma were transported via UAV, enabling prehospital transfusion under telemedicine supervision.
The UAV successfully delivered blood products on two consecutive flights, ensuring early resuscitation and stabilization despite delayed evacuation. The casualty's vital signs improved post-transfusion, and surgical interventions were successfully performed following hospital admission. This case demonstrates the feasibility of drone-assisted blood product transport in prolonged field care scenarios.
To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a combat casualty receiving a UAV-facilitated massive transfusion in an operational setting. While UAV-based medical logistics offers a rapid and reliable alternative for remote trauma care, challenges remain in regulatory implementation, blood product stability, and integration into standardized protocols. Further controlled studies are needed to optimize UAV-assisted transfusion strategies and their potential expansion into civilian and disaster response settings.
