Safety and effectiveness of predeposit autologous transfusions in preteen and adolescent children.

Although there is documentation in the literature of the safety and effectiveness of predeposit autologous transfusions among adult patients contemplating surgery, there are no comparable data for preteen and teenage children. We report our experience with 180 children between the ages of 8 and 18 years participating in a community blood center-based predeposit autologous transfusion program. Children as young as 8 years old and weighing as little as 27 kg predonated a prescribed amount of blood prior to elective orthopedic (169) or plastic (11) surgery. Only four children experienced a donor reaction; none of them was severe. No child was unable to donate the prescribed number of units. Eighty-eight percent of the children were able to supply their complete blood requirements, thus avoiding exposure to homologous blood. Our experience documents both the safety and effectiveness of predeposit autologous transfusions in preteen and adolescent children and should encourage existing predeposit autologous transfusion programs to extend participation to thousands of children for whom the opportunity to use their own blood is currently denied.