[Blood saving in bone prosthetic surgery. Apropos of 426 cases]

Perioperative blood salvage during hip and knee prosthetic surgery have been evaluated in a series of 345 patients who underwent a total of 426 surgical procedures. In 85 per cent of the cases, no additional homologous transfusion was required. In the patients who benefited from autotransfusion the quantity of bank blood transfused was 10 times less than in patients who were not autotransfused.