The impact of intraoperative autotransfusion on cardiac surgery. A prospective randomized double-blind study

The effect of intraoperative autotransfusion during coronary artery bypass grafting was studied in a randomized double-blind trial involving 38 patients. Nineteen patients had the collected RBCs washed and autotransfused (autotransfusion group), while the remaining patients had their washed cells discarded (control group). Postoperative hemoglobin and hematocrit values were similar. Exposure to banked blood was markedly decreased in the autotransfusion group compared with the control group. In addition, the mean volume of banked packed RBCs transfused per patient was significantly less in the autotransfusion group compared with the control group. Platelet utilization also was markedly decreased in the autotransfusion group. Cryoprecipitate and fresh frozen plasma utilization also was less in the autotransfusion group than in the control group, but this did not reach statistical significance. We conclude that the intraoperative use of autotransfusion decreases the volume of homologous blood products transfused, which results in reduced exposure of the patients to banked blood products.