Predonated autologous blood transfusion using r-HuEPO.

In an attempt to eliminate the hazards of homologous blood transfusions during major orthopedic surgery, 19 female patients donated 1, 200ml of autologous blood before operation.400ml blood was donated once a week for three weeks before operation and kept in a refrigerator at 4°C. Patients were divided into 3 groups: Group A (5 patients) received 6, 000 units of r-HuEPO three times a week. Group B (6 patients) received 6, 000 units of r-HuEPO twice a week. Group C (8 patients) were controls and did not receive r-HuEPO. All the patients were given ferrous sulfate, 210mg of iron, orally every day from 2 or 3 weeks before the first donation.All the patients were able to collect 1, 200ml of autologous blood. After donation of 1, 200ml blood, hemoglobin levels of each group became 93.5±5.1% (12.7±0.5g/dl), 91.5±1.6% (11.8±0.3g/dl) and 77.6±3.4% (10.7±0.6g/dl) of those at the predonation. Group A and Group B remained almost within normal hemoglobin level. These levels were significantly higher in Group A and Group B than in Group C. The lowest hemoglobin levels after operation of each group were 74.5±8.6% (10.1±1.0g/dl), 71.8±9.3% (9.0±1.0g/dl) and 58.6±7.6% (8.0±0.9g/dl) of those at the predonation. Both Group A and Group B used autologous blood only, while 2 of 8 patients in Group C received 2 or 3 units of homologous blood. During donation any side effects or complications did not occur and after donation none of the transfusion transmitted diseases were recognized.Predeposited autologous blood transfusion is a simple, safe, and cost-effective method to prevent transfusion related reactions and infections, but 1, 200ml blood donation in 21 days without using r-HuEPO sometimes leads the patients anemic and requires additional homologous blood. In this study, 1, 200ml of autologous blood donation was performed safely and easily using r-HuEPO, so it can be possible to perform most of the elective surgery using predonated autologous blood.