Roundtable of Experts in Surgery Blood Management--consensus statement

A Roundtable of Experts in Surgery Blood Management was held 7 to 9 April 1995, in Vienna, where all the available published and unpublished epoetin alfa clinical data was thoroughly discussed and where the following CONSENSUS STATEMENT was developed to give the clinician some practical guidelines for the administration of epoetin alfa in elective surgery patients.

For elective surgery patients it is important to facilitate, via blood conservation methods, the elimination or reduction of exposure to allogeneic blood transfusion and its associated risks. Adjunctive use of epoetin alpha therapy in specific patients is one method to accomplish this goal. Patients with small body size, predicted low blood volume (< or = 51), and/or a hematocrit too low to be enrolled in or to complete their prescribed ABD (autologous blood donation) program especially benefit from epoetin alfa therapy. Generally, epoetin alfa therapy is well tolerated, with an acceptable risk-to-benefit ratio.