Åreladning kaldes også for venesectio eller phlebotomia og det er en medicinsk behandling der blev anvendt tidligere. Det foregik ved at man fjernede en del af blodet fra en patient ved at åbne en blodåre. Det er en medicinsk behandling der blev anvendt indtil ca. 1900.

For eksempel beskrives behandlingen af en såret fransk soldat den 13. juli 1824 således:

A French sergeant was stabbed through the chest while engaged in single combat; within minutes, he fainted from loss of blood. Arriving at the local hospital he was immediately bled twenty ounces (570 ml) “to prevent inflammation”. During the night he was bled another 24 ounces (680 ml). Early the next morning, the chief surgeon bled the patient another 10 ounces (285 ml); during the next 14 hours, he was bled five more times.  Bleedings continued over the next several days. By 29 July, the wound had become inflamed. The physician applied 32 leeches to the most sensitive part of the wound. Over the next three days, there were more bleedings and a total of 40 more leeches. The sergeant recovered and was discharged on 3 October. His physician wrote that “by the large quantity of blood lost, amounting to 170 ounces (4.8 liters), besides that drawn by the application of leeches (1.1 liters), the life of the patient was preserved”.

Sidst opdateret 19. maj 2023