title: [Quality of blood salvaged in orthopedic surgery by washing swabs].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish the feasibility and safety of recuperating blood absorbed by swabs used during orthopaedic surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Open, prospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Included were children undergoing potentially haemorrhagic orthopaedic surgery for whom intraoperative blood salvage seemed possible. Excluded were those with contraindications for this procedure such as septic surgery and cancer surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intraoperative swabs used within the surgical field were collected by a surgical assistant, also in charge of weighing and washing them. The liquid was collected by the aspiration system of a recuperation-washing machine (RWM). The salvaged red blood cells were collected and retransfused at the end of surgery. Several samples of the washing liquid of the swabs and salvaged blood were taken during the procedure. The correlation between the quantity of blood shed and salvaged was calculated. The biological and clinical tolerance of the transfusion was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve patients undergoing surgery for scoliosis have been included. An average of 278 mL of blood were salvaged. In the washed cell concentrates the haematocrit was 54% and the free haemoglobin concentration was 3.84 g.L-1. All the bacteriological tests were negative over the first 24 hours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Provided that a strict operatory protocol is followed, this study demonstrates the possibility of recuperating blood from swabs used during major orthopaedic surgery.
authors.affiliation: Département d'anesthésie-réanimation, hôpital Raymond-Poincaré, Garches, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Loeb
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jean
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roussi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van Amerongen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nauciel
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fraisse
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gabillet
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yagoubi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001458:Bandages; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous; D002648:Child; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion; D006400:Hematocrit; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects