[Clinical experiences with autologous blood transfusion in vascular surgery]

In a prospective study 30 patients with high operative risk in vascular surgery underwent preoperative phlebotomy. Blood loss during operation could be replaced by bank autologous blood. The clinical data during and after operation are compared with the data of a control group. The use of banked autologous blood does not even endanger patients with poor cardiorespiratory function. As a clinical procedure it is easily performed and reduces the cost of medical care. The method of preoperative phlebotomy reduces the need of homologous blood by 75%. The number of patients receiving homologous blood is reduced by 50%. Banked autologous blood is an important help for the anesthetist. The basic physiologic principles of the method are discussed as well as advantage and disadvantage of preoperative hemodilution. The authors suggest to withdrawal of 800 ml autologous blood before every operation in which the blood loss will be higher than 500 ml.