Autologous Blood Transfusions
- Council on Scientific Affairs
Abstract
Blood collected from a patient for retransfusion at a later time into that same individual is called "autologous blood." When the guidelines established by the American Association of Blood Banks are followed, autologous blood is the safest type of blood for transfusion. It also decreases the demand for banked blood and eliminates the risk of infection and alloimmunization from a transfusion. Autologous transfusions are becoming widely available; since 1974 the number of institutions providing autologous transfusion programs has increased more than fourfold. The Council on Scientific Affairs endorses the use of autologous blood transfusions.
(JAMA 1986;256:2378-2380)
Footnotes
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Report H of the Council on Scientific Affairs, adopted by the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association at the Annual Meeting, June 15 through 19, 1986.
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This report is not intended to be construed or to serve as a standard of medical care. Standards of medical care are determined on the basis of all of the facts and circumstances involved in an individual case and are subject to change as scientific knowledge and technology advance and patterns of practice evolve. This report reflects the views of the scientific literature as of June 1986.
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Reprint requests to Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610 (William R. Hendee, PhD).
