Autotransfusion

The risk of contracting certain disorders following a blood transfusion is currently becoming worrisome not only for physicians who are aware of this problem, but also for patients who, with increased media attention on AIDS, are more afraid of this potential risk than of the surgical or anesthetic risks. In fact, hepatitis constitute the major risk involved in homologous transfusion since some 60,000 cases are reported each year in France. Prevention of transmission of disease by blood transfusion is based on decreasing homologous transfusions and especially by saving blood. Indeed, when surgery is planned, units of the patient's blood can be obtained in the weeks prior to it to be used during the operation or the immediate follow-up period. In case of emergency surgery, blood is collected preoperatively making it possible to obtain hemodilution during surgery and an autotransfusion if necessary at the conclusion of the procedure. Finally, there are methods to recover blood at the actual site of the surgical procedure.