Blood conservation in elective surgery

Haemodilution study in major orthopaedic surgery experience as a technique of blood conservation

Haemodilution and auto-transfusion were carried out in 103 consecutive patients having major orthopaedic surgery. The records of 99 patients were available for retrospective assessment of this technique. Fifty-six per cent of the patients did not require any homologous blood transfusion. Homologous blood transfusion was given to 44% of the patients, who used up 99 units of blood in their entire hospital stay. There was no morbidity such as transfusion reaction, infection, decrease in platelets or re-operation for bleeding associated with the procedure, although there was one death secondary to myocardial infarction. This technique offered an alternative method to reduce the use of homologous blood transfusion in major orthopaedic operations.

Lipolytic enzyme and phospholipid level changes in intraoperative salvaged blood

Autotransfusion is becoming increasingly popular, mainly because it eliminates the risk of disease transmission. One of the techniques available is intra-operative blood salvage and retransfusion with or without washing of the collected blood. The blood collected during this process is subjected to a variety of chemical and physical insults which can alter the normal composition of the plasma by activating plasma and cellular homeostatic mechanisms. In this study, we measured the plasma levels of total phospholipids, lysolecithin and non-esterified fatty acids, and the lipolytic enzymes phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and lipase in the salvaged blood before and after washing. In the unwashed salvaged blood the mean levels of PLA2, non-esterified fatty acids and lysophospholipids increased by 144, 96 and 149%, respectively, while those of total phospholipids and lipase did not change to any extent. All these substances were reduced to well below the patients circulating plasma levels by washing the collected blood. The changes indicate that the lipid profile of salvaged blood is significantly altered and that potentially dangerous substances such as PLA2 and its metabolites, lysolecithin and non-esterified fatty acids, are present in increased amounts. Washing the blood is recommended prior to reinfusion.

Levels of complement factor C3 and its activated product, C3a, in operatively salvaged blood

In intra-operative blood salvage the collected blood is exposed to traumatized tissue and a synthetic circuit. Because of this exposure it was expected that the complement system, which is a contact system present in plasma, would be activated in salvaged blood. To determine whether this occurs, the plasma levels of the complement factor C3 and its activated fragment, C3a, were measured in intra-operative salvaged blood before and after washing. Samples were obtained from patients undergoing aortic surgery where intra-operative salvage was used. In the unwashed salvaged blood, the level of C3 fell (mean C3: 0.33 g/L) and the level of C3a increased (mean C3a: 1994 ng/mL) compared with the patient circulating levels of C3 and C3a (mean C3: 0.70 g/L, mean C3a: 855 ng/mL) respectively. Washing of the collected blood reduced the C3a level (mean: 346 ng/mL) to the patient's level and reduced C3 to the lower detection limit of the test (less than 0.2 g/L). The raised level of C3a and the reduced level of C3 confirm that the complement system is activated and imply that other complement factors are also activated.

Blood-conservation techniques for coronary-artery bypass surgery at a private hospital

The utilization of homologous blood and blood products was recorded in 100 consecutive patients who underwent primary coronary-artery bypass surgery. Nine patients underwent saphenous-vein grafts only, 55 patients underwent a single internal-mammary-artery graft that was supplemented by vein grafts and 36 patients underwent bilateral internal-mammary-artery grafts and vein grafts. All patients underwent normovolaemic haemodilution, and autologous blood was collected before bypass surgery. Residual blood was collected from the cardiopulmonary bypass machine and was washed and concentrated in a cell processor, and blood also was scavenged postoperatively from the mediastinal drainage tubes as methods to conserve blood. The mean (+/- SD) utilization of homologous blood was 1.3 +/- 1.5 units with 0.2 +/- 0.7 units of fresh-frozen plasma being used, and 0.8 +/- 2.1 units of platelets being used. The utilization of homologous blood was not different among the three different methods of coronary-artery bypass surgery, but patients who underwent bilateral internal-mammary-artery grafts suffered a greater postoperative loss of blood than did those patients who underwent saphenous-vein grafts or single internal-mammary-artery grafts. A comparison of patients who were taking aspirin or a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug preoperatively with those patients who were not showed no difference in the utilization of homologous blood but a statistically-significant difference was found in the loss of blood postoperatively.