[Scheduled autotransfusion in orthopedic surgery].

We report the results of a programmed autotransfusion protocol applied to 22 patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. The number of extractions depended on the surgical needs and on the scheduled time for surgery. Among the total amount of blood used in this study, 81.7% corresponded to the volume previously given by the patient. This volume was sufficient for autologous transfusion in 17 patients. The remaining 18.3% of volume corresponded to homologous blood. We compared the hematologic data obtained at the beginning of the protocol and at the immediate pre and postoperative phase. We found statistical differences among hemoglobin levels, hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular volume. We conclude that programmed autotransfusion constitutes an ideal method to compensate blood losses during surgery. This method may be the future for hemotransfusion in programmed surgery.