[An emergency operation for a Jehovah's Witness with ruptured thoracic saccular aneurysm]

A 49-year-old male "Jehovah's Witness" was transferred to our hospital with hypotension, abdominal pain, and abdominal distension, and a diagnosis of ruptured thoracic saccular aneurysm was made. He and his family insisted on having an emergency operation for his ruptured aneurysm without blood transfusion. After an intensive discussion among the patient, his family, surgeons, and the director of the hospital, we performed the operation without blood transfusion. The operation using cardiopulmonary bypass took about five hours under enflurane anesthesia, but he died of circulatory collapse fifteen hours after the end of operation. As there may be various opinions concerning how we should take care of Jehovah's Witness patients, we have to manage them case by case.