Fever and autologous blood retransfusion after total knee arthroplasty: a prospective study of 40 autotransfusion events in 21 patients.

The authors report a postoperative increase in body temperature by 2C within 12 h and 1C within 2 h after autotransfusion in all of 21 patients receiving about 1000 mL of drainage blood (with unspecified content of RBC), and none of the patients returning to normal temperature within the observation period (first two postoperative days). Their conclusion that this fever was not due to the autotransfusion is not substantiated by a study lacking a control group.

– Ernil Hansen