title: Effect of blood conservation efforts in cardiac operations at the Mayo Clinic.
abstract: In a retrospective study of 388 patients who had undergone cardiac operations at our institution during two time periods-before (1982) and after (1984) introduction of autologous transfusion-we analyzed the effect of blood conservation efforts and autologous transfusion on blood usage, postoperative complications, and duration of hospitalization. Cell salvage techniques resulted in a significant reduction (P less than 0.0001) in use of not only homologous blood (from a mean of 9.6 units per patient in 1982 to 3.2 units in 1984) but also fresh-frozen plasma and platelet concentrates. We found no significant difference in morbidity or mortality for the two study periods. Although the mean duration of hospitalization decreased from 11.7 days in 1982 to 9.6 days in 1984, this change was probably related to factors other than the introduction of blood conservation efforts. Thus, techniques used to decrease the amount of blood replacement needed for cardiac surgical procedures are beneficial.
authors.affiliation: Section of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Popovsky
authors.forename: H V
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Schaff
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Orszulak
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Taswell
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ilstrup
mesh_terms: D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012189:Retrospective Studies