title: Post-operative blood salvage and retransfusion in total hip and knee arthroplasty.
abstract: This retrospective study evaluated the safety and efficacy of post-operative blood salvage and retransfusion in 430 patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty and 530 patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Volumes of autologous blood retransfused (mean +/- SD) were 525 +/- 75 and 660 +/- 95 ml in the hip and knee replacement groups, respectively. Overall, 230 patients (24%) also required allogeneic blood transfusion. In a subgroup of 150 randomly selected patients, the values of free haemoglobin in the allogeneic, autologous and patients' blood at the time of surgery were 0.568 +/- 0.112, 0.272 +/- 0.067 and 0.032 +/- 0.011 g/l, respectively. On the first and third post-operative days, the levels in patients' blood were 0.092 +/- 0.039 and 0.057 +/- 0.028 g/l, respectively. There were no major complications; transient chills and fever were reported in 99 (10.3%) and 115 patients (12.0%), respectively. In conclusion, post-operative blood salvage and retransfusion is a safe way to reduce the need for allogeneic blood transfusion in patients undergoing elective orthopaedic surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, General Hospital of Karpenissi, Evrytania, Greece. athanasouliasv@hotmail.com
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Athanasoulias
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Mavrogenis
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Sdrenias
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mitsiokapa
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lourikas
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Papagelopoulos
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Christodoulou
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012189:Retrospective Studies