The use of autologous blood. The National Blood Resource Education Program Expert Panel
The risk of transmitting disease through blood transfusions continues to
fall as additional blood donor screening and testing measures are
implemented. Nevertheless, when a blood transfusion is needed during the
perioperative period, autologous blood is the safest option for eligible
patients. Three methods for obtaining autologous blood to use during or
after a planned surgical procedure are preoperative autologous blood
donation, perioperative blood salvage, and acute normovolemic hemodilution.
These techniques can be used alone or in combination to decrease or
eliminate a patient's exposure to homologous blood. However, because all
transfusions carry some health risk and blood administration costs,
autologous blood should not be collected or reinfused indiscriminately.
Autologous blood services should be used for eligible patients who are
likely to require a transfusion but should not be employed for minor
procedures in which transfusion is unlikely.
