title: "Bloodless" Neurosurgery Among Jehovah's Witnesses: A Comparison with Matched Concurrent Controls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) are a Christian faith with >1 million members in the United States who do not accept autologous blood transfusions. The optimal management of these patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures is not well defined. Here, we examined the feasibility and safety of JW undergoing neurosurgery in a blood management program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-eight JW patients including 23 men and 45 women (mean age 53 ± 12 years) who underwent a variety of cranial (n = 19) and spinal (n = 49) neurosurgical procedures during a 5-year period were identified retrospectively and their hospital charts, anesthetic records, and operative reports reviewed. A concurrent cohort of sex-, age-, and procedure-matched non-JW controls also was identified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among JW patients, a cell-saving system was used in 27 cases, with blood retransfused in 13 cases. Lactated Ringers solution was used extensively intraoperatively; albumin was given to 15 patients. The median decrease in hemoglobin was 2.1 g/dL. One patient had a postoperative hemoglobin value <7 g/dL. One patient returned to the operating room to revise a lumbar pedicle screw, and one patient had postoperative seizures. No cardiopulmonary complications, sepsis, pneumonia, or wound infection were observed. Compared with the matched control group, similar outcome results were observed. Blood loss and operative time also were similar in JW patients and controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neurosurgical procedures in Jehovah's Witnesses are feasible, safe, and have similar outcomes to patients willing to accept transfusion when managed within a multidisciplinary blood-management program.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hardesty
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doerfler
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Sukhmeet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sandhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Peabody, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Whitmore
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.affiliation: Lankenau Brain and Spine Center, Lankenau Hospital, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rushton
authors.affiliation: Lankenau Brain and Spine Center, Lankenau Hospital, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA. Electronic address: lerouxp@mlhs.org.
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: LeRoux
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000517:prevention & control; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D033221:Jehovah's Witnesses / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins
keywords: Jehovah's Witness; Neurosurgery; Transfusion