Current blood transfusion practice in aortic aneurysm surgery in Scotland. The Scottish Vascular Audit Group

A questionnaire on current practice in blood transfusion during aortic aneurysm repair was sent to all consultant surgeons with a vascular interest practising in Scotland. Replies were received from 31 surgeons. A blood ordering schedule was operated by 29 surgeons for elective operations and 26 surgeons for emergency operations. The mean number of units of red cell concentrate ordered was 4.7 units for elective operations (range 3-8 units) and 8 units for emergency operations (range 6-12 units). The time estimated to obtain red cell concentrate was 38.2 min (range 15-90 min) for a new request and 8.8 min (range 2-30 min) to obtain further blood in a patient already crossmatched. Blood conservation techniques employed included the use of low porosity or sealed grafts by 86% of surgeons. Autotransfusion was used by six surgeons, but only regularly by three surgeons. One surgeon used pre-deposit autologous transfusion and one used preoperative haemodilution. Intravenous heparin was used by 90% of surgeons during elective operations and by 16% of surgeons during emergency operations. Most surgeons used a standard dose of 5000 units of heparin.