Blood replacement practices for complex orthognathic surgery: a single surgeon's experience.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to review the blood replacement practices in a consecutive series of a single surgeon's experience whose patients all underwent, at a minimum, simultaneous Le Fort I maxillary osteotomy, bilateral sagittal split osteotomies of the mandible, septoplasty, and inferior turbinate reduction procedures.


METHODS
A consecutive series of a single surgeon's patients who met inclusion criteria of (n = 34) during a 5-month time frame were included. Records included office charts, hospital records, and data stored at the Red Cross (hospital) blood bank.


RESULTS
A total of 76% (26/34) of the study patients chose to auto donate [corrected].. Only 2 of the study patients underwent blood transfusion (6%). One of the transfused patients received 1 unit of auto-donated blood, whereas the other transfused patient received a unit of homologous packed red blood cells. Based on the total units of blood predonated, 97% (28/29) of stored units were discarded.


CONCLUSIONS
Only a small percentage (6%) of individuals undergoing complex orthognathic and intranasal surgery received blood replacement. We believe that close collaboration between the surgical and anesthesia teams and the recovery of patients in a safely monitored environment will continue to reduce the need for transfusion in the orthognathic patient.
Posnick
Jeffrey C
JC
Posnick Center for Facial Plastic Surgery, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA. jposnick@drposnick.com
Rabinovich
Alexander
A
Richardson
Daniel T
DT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009300:Nasal Septum / Q000601:surgery; D056948:Orthognathic Surgical Procedures; D010027:Osteotomy; D014420:Turbinates / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult