Perioperative red blood cell salvage in spine surgery. A prospective analysis

Reinfusion of perioperative blood loss was studied in 150 spinal surgery patients to evaluate its efficacy in reducing transfusion requirements. Three groups of 50 consecutive patients were observed. Group A had no blood salvage and served as a control group, Group B used Cell Saver for intraoperative blood salvage, and Group C used Cell Saver intraoperatively and Solcotrans postoperatively for salvage of postoperative drainage. The three groups had similar demographics, preoperative hematocrits (HCT), operative blood loss, and postoperative drainage. Serial HCTs through the fifth postoperative day showed no significant difference between groups. Total transfusion requirements of homologous and prebanked autologous blood were reduced 35% in Group B and 68% in Group C when compared to control group A. These differences are statistically significant. The combination of intraoperative and postoperative blood salvage was highly effective in reducing the need for transfused blood.