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Use of autologous blood in support of orthopaedic surgery using a hospital‐based autologous donor programme
Author(s) -
Pinkerton P. H.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
transfusion medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1365-3148
pISSN - 0958-7578
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3148.1995.tb00202.x
Subject(s) - medicine , autologous blood , surgery , arthroplasty , orthopedic surgery , blood transfusion , blood loss , hip arthroplasty , blood management , spinal surgery
SUMMARY. The use of autologous blood in support of orthopaedic surgery has been assessed for 296 patients; 150 underwent hip arthroplasty, 69 underwent knee arthroplasty, 37 underwent spinal procedures and 40 underwent miscellaneous operations. Overall, 87% of patients received no allogeneic blood and 23% of the autologous blood collected was not used. For hip and knee arthroplasty, there appears to be an increased willingness to transfuse patients when autologous blood is available, and a decreased proportion of patients receiving more than 3 units for hip arthroplasty and 2 units for knee surgery, when compared with an audit of blood use when almost all blood used was allogeneic. Wastage of autologous blood in support of spinal surgery was 66%, prompting a review of ordering practices. Assessment of avoidance of allogeneic transfusion by the standard schedule of 3 units for hip arthroplasty and 2 units for knee arthroplasty appears justified by the calculation that collection of an additional unit in each case would avoid allogeneic transfusion in 11 (5%) more patients with the unnecessary collection of 208 units.