Transfusion practices for elective orthopedic surgery.

The article demonstrates that the decision towards autologous blood donation (ABD) does not, in the majority of cases, depend on the hemoglobin values but on additional health risk factors. There was even an increase of ABD from 1995/96 to 1998/99, which was not the case, for example, in Europe. Otherwise, the data confirm the generally accepted experiences: ABD is able to reduce allogeneic blood use by about 50%, pre- and postoperative hemoglobin values are mostly lower than without ABD, and many autologous blood transfusions are not indicated in order to prevent expiry. Therefore, the proposal of the Mercuriali group suggesting individually adapted ABD should be followed.

– V. Kretschmer.