Intraoperative cell salvage is associated with reduced postoperative blood loss and transfusion requirements in cardiac surgery: a cohort study.

In this excellent study, 964 patients undergoing low-to-moderate-risk cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were studied retrospectively. A control group was compared to a group with intraoperative cell salvage of shed blood from the thoracic cavity and residual blood from the extracorporeal circulation. The patients with washed autologous blood showed significantly reduced rates of allogeneic transfusion, postoperative bleeding, reoperation for bleeding and myocardial infarction. This study confirms strong evidence for the benefits of cell salvage in cardiac surgery.

– Ernil Hansen