title: Experience with patients with burns who refuse blood transfusion for religious reasons.
abstract: Patients with extensive full-thickness burns who refuse blood transfusion present a challenge to the burn team. We have recently treated four such patients, and we achieved a successful outcome in three. Staged excision and skin graft operations with minimal blood loss were performed. Two patients were treated with erythropoietin. Patient autonomy should be accepted by the burn team, but opportunity should exist for reassessment of treatment plans.
authors.affiliation: Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Slater
authors.forename: I W
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Goldfarb
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Hammell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D002056:Burns / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D002835:Christianity; D030881:Disclosure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033221:Jehovah's Witnesses; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016312:Treatment Refusal