More surgeons advocate autologous transfusions

Nutrition Health Review, Fall, 1990

More Surgeons Advocate Autologous Transfusions

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: No transfused blood is as safe for a surgery patient as his or her own. Because many operations require transfused blood, an increasing number of surgeons are choosing to use blood from the patient, stored before the event. The procedure, known as autologous transfusion, promises to change preparation for elective surgery.

Although it requires delaying an operation until the patient can donate enough blood, the practice ensures almost a perfect blood supply if the self-donor is not contaminated in any way.

Steven A. Gould, M.D., of the Michael Reese Medical Center in Chicago, recommends that patients undergoing surgery donate their blood as frequently as every three days, but once-a-week preoperative contribution is more common.