[Autotransfusion with Cell-Saver in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery].

The medical records of 68 patients who had undergone orthopaedic surgery were studied. All these patients had during surgery received autologous transfusion via a cell-saver. The collected blood was washed and centrifuged before reinfusion. Loss of blood, autologous blood transfusion and donor blood transfusion were registered. We found that 70% of the lost erythrocytes were regained. In addition to this we found a significantly lower use of donor blood products than expected. The patients' serum-creatinine levels were registered pre- and postoperatively, and we found no increase postoperatively compared to preoperative values. We conclude that it is possible to reduce the use of donor blood products by means of peroperative autotransfusions.