title: Autologous blood transfusion.
abstract: Autologous blood transfusion is a procedure in which blood is removed from a donor and returned to his circulation at some later time. Autologous transfusion can be performed in three ways: (1) preoperative blood collection, storage, and retransfusion during surgery; (2) immediate preoperative phlebotomy with subsequent artificial hemodilution and later return of the phlebotomized blood; and (3) intraoperative blood salvage and retransfusion. All three methods of autologous transfusion offer a potentially superior method of blood transfusion which eliminates many of the problems and complications associated with the banking and administration of homologous donor blood.
mesh_terms: D001793:Blood Preservation; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D001815:Bloodletting; D004211:Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation / Q000209:etiology; D004617:Embolism / Q000209:etiology; D006461:Hemolysis; D006801:Humans; D009366:Neoplasm Seeding; D011300:Preoperative Care; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000209:etiology