Vignali A, Braga M, Dionigi P, Radaelli G, Gentilini O, Bellini A, Jemos V, Di Carlo V
Department of Surgery, IRCCS San Raffaele, University of Milan, Italy.
Eur J Surg. 1995 Jul;161(7):487-92.
To assess the effects of both autologous and homologous blood transfusion on the incidence of infective complications after elective operations for colorectal cancer.
Prospective open study.
University hospital, Italy.
Recording of variables known to influence the development of infection.
Infective morbidity and mortality.
Fifty-three patients (33%) deposited their own blood. Eighty-six of the 161 (53%) patients were transfused, 36 were given autologous blood, 48 homologous blood and 2 both autologous and homologous blood. These two were excluded from the analysis. Infective complications developed in 28 patients (17%), of which 7/75 (9%) were in patients who had not been transfused, 5/56 (14%) in patients given autologous transfusion, and 16/48 (33%) in patients given homologous transfusions (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis identified homologous blood transfusion as the only variable significantly associated with the development of postoperative infective complications. No patient died.
Transfusion of autologous blood was associated with significantly fewer postoperative infective complications than transfusion of homologous blood or no blood transfusion.
