[Clinical experiences with induced preoperative haemodilution in vascular surgery (author's transl)]

A procedure of haemodilution modified for the particular requirements of vascular surgery has been used on 90 hospital patients. 61% of the operations have been performed without using homologous blood. The method applied being clinically well tolerable, it the object of this study to find to what extent a measurable reduction of the loss of blood during the operation with consequently a reduction of the amount of homologous blood administered can be attained. If the tolerable loss of blood is estimated to be 600 ml, in 22% of the cases operated on the administration of homologous blood has been avoided. The improvement in rheology by the infusion of low molecular weight dextran is considered an additional advantage in the special field of vascular surgery.