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Limited effectiveness of intraoperative autotransfusion in major back surgery
L Abildgaard1, S Aaro, B Lisander
1Department of Anaesthesia, University Hospital, S-581 85 Linköping, Sweden.
Background And Objective:
The efficiency of intraoperative autotransfusion in scoliosis surgery is poorly known but needs to be evaluated, not least because of the large blood losses in these patients. This is a retrospective analysis of transfusion requirements of 43 such patients.
Methods:
Records from 43 patients were studied. During surgery, the shed blood was salvaged and washed in an autotransfusion device (AT1000 Autotransfusion Unit) and a suspension of red cells was reinfused.
Results:
Fifty-eight per cent of the intraoperative blood loss was salvaged. The total blood loss during the patients' hospital stay was calculated from the haemoglobin balance; 24% of this loss was salvaged by the device. Moreover, 36 of the patients needed allogeneic blood transfusion.
Conclusion:
The efficiency of the autotransfusion device was relatively low in relation to the total extravasation, mainly because the postoperative blood loss is substantial.