Survey of autologous blood transfusion activity in England (2001)

Better Blood Transfusion' (Department of Health (1998) HSC 1998/224) stressed the need for National Health Service Trusts to explore the feasibility of autologous blood transfusions and raise patient awareness of these techniques. The development of an appropriate strategy to promote autologous transfusion requires an understanding of current use, along with constraints to increasing practice. Past surveys have shown unchanging attitudes to autologous transfusion (Torrella et al. (2001) Transfusion Medicine, 11, 15-19), but detailed information regarding the extent of autologous transfusion in England and North Wales was not available. This survey, carried out in 2001, considered autologous transfusion under four headings: predeposit autologous donation, acute normovolaemic haemodilution, intra-operative cell salvage and postoperative cell salvage. Questionnaires were returned from 265/310 (85.4%) hospitals served by the National Blood Service. Sixty per cent of respondents performed at least one autologous technique, although practice was limited to a few clinicians within each hospital. Predeposit donation was the most widespread technique but involved very few patients. Intra- and postoperative cell salvage techniques were practised in fewer hospitals but on many more patients. The main constraints to increasing use of autologous techniques were perceived to be logistical, but removal of constraints may only result in small increases in individual practice. More clinicians need to be encouraged to utilize appropriate, evidence-based autologous techniques.