Perioperative autotransfusion in total hip and knee arthroplasty

We assessed the OrthoPAT Orthopedic Perioperative Autotransfusion System (Zimmer Inc, Warsaw, Ind) in reducing the need for allogeneic blood in hip or knee arthroplasty. Patients (N = 398) were divided into 5 cohorts: unilateral primary hip (n = 131), unilateral revision hip (n = 38), unilateral primary knee (n = 179), unilateral revision knee (n = 26), and bilateral primary knee (n = 24). Primary or revision hip arthroplasties with no preoperative autologous blood donation, knee arthroplasties with no preoperative autologous blood donation, and unilateral primary hip arthroplasties were 2.7, 2.3, and 2 times less likely (P < .05), respectively, to use allogeneic blood with OrthoPAT. We conclude that OrthoPAT use significantly reduced the risk of receiving allogeneic blood transfusions in defined patient subsets.