Autologous blood transfusion: why and how.

Although first reported more than 100 years ago, autologous blood transfusion was grossly underused until the 1980s, when the safety of blood came into question. With the discovery of transfusion-transmitted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), physicians and patients began to request this form of transfusion. In this article, four modalities of autologous transfusion are described: preoperative blood donation, acute normovolemic hemodilution, intraoperative blood recovery, and postoperative blood salvage. The indications and contraindications for the use of these modalities, patient eligibility, and the blood center's involvement in these services also are explained.