title: Retransfusion of shed blood collected in drains after Total Knee Replacement.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Total knee arthroplasty is associated with a perioperative blood loss, which is usually addressed with transfusion of allogenic blood. The possible risks of such treatment include viral infection, immunologic complications and occasional lack of blood products. Recently, retransfusion of blood recovered from the operative field or drains has become an effective treatment for blood loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of autologous transfusion of blood recovered from drains and to determine if the retransfusion alone is sufficient for treatment of the perioperative blood loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective evaluation of 214 patients (240 knees) was performed. Standard suction drains were used in 127 cases, whereas in 113 cases we used the HandyVac retransfusion system. The comparative analysis included the preoperative haemoglobin level, surgery time, length of hospitalisation, incidence of fever and demand for allogenic blood transfusion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Retransfusion of blood from drains decreased the incidence of allogenic transfusion from 69.3% to 43.4%. The global demand for blood products was reduced by 42%. The use of retransfusion kits did not increase surgery time. In the retransfusion group, the incidence of elevated body temperature and number of days with fever per one patient were higher than in the allogenic transfusion group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Retransfusion of shed blood from drains decreases the demand for allogenic blood. However, it does not eliminate the need for transfusion. The method is simple and relatively safe. It does not increase surgery time. No serious adverse effects were noted apart from elevated body temperature. A low preoperative haemoglobin level was a risk factor for additional allogenic transfusions in patients who have received retransfusion.
authors.affiliation: Department and Chair of Orthopaedic and Traumatology Medical University of Silesia, Katowice. lukasc@mp.pl
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Cieliński
authors.forename: Damian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kusz
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hajduk
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wojciechowski
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Igielski
authors.forename: Mateusz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gebuś
authors.forename: Błazej
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kusz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006440:Hemofiltration / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013396:Suction / Q000379:methods*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control