Erythrocyte survival following intraoperative autotransfusion in spinal surgery: an in vivo comparative study and 5-year update.

A 5-year prospective study of intraoperative blood transfusion in 239 patients, most of whom had major spinal surgery, has been completed. Autotransfusion is safe, practical, and it reduces donor blood requirements and total blood loss by 50%. It eliminates host versus graft reactions and disease transmission. In 33 patients having major spinal surgery, the in vivo survival of autologous, homologous, and processed red blood cells (RBC) using the Cell Saver System were compared. The RBC survival studies were performed using chromium51 isotope labeling technique. The long-term survival of processed RBCs was normal over a 30-day period. There was no significant difference in the survival rate of the three groups studied.