Intraoperative blood salvage during liver resection: a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to clarify the effectiveness of intraoperative blood salvage in reducing blood loss. BACKGROUND: Although reduction of central venous pressure (CVP) is thought to decrease blood loss during liver resection, no consistently effective and safe method for obtaining the desired reduction of CVP has been established. METHODS: Living liver donors scheduled to undergo liver graft procurement were randomly assigned to a blood salvage group, in which a blood volume equal to approximately 0.7% of the patient's body weight was collected before the liver transection, or a control group. The surgeons were blinded to the randomization results. The primary outcome measure was blood loss during liver parenchymal division. A multivariate analysis was also performed. RESULTS: Seventy-nine donors were allocated intraoperatively to the blood salvage group (n = 40) or the control group (n = 39). The amount of blood loss during liver transection was significantly smaller in the blood salvage group than in the control group (median loss during transection, 140 mL vs. 230 mL, P = 0.034). The CVP at the beginning of the liver parenchymal division was significantly lower in the blood salvage group than in the control group (median, 5 cm H2O vs. 6 cm H2O, P = 0.005). The results of a multivariate analysis revealed that intraoperative blood salvage offered the advantage of reduced blood loss during liver parenchymal division (adjusted OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.11-0.85, P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: Modest intraoperative blood salvage significantly and safely reduced blood loss during hepatic parenchymal transection.