Focused Update : Perioperative Management of Jehovah ’ s Witness Patients in Relation to Their Refusal of Allogeneic Blood Transfusion

The religious organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) numbers approximately 7.6 million members worldwide. The most important particularity of surgical JW patients consists in their strict refusal of allogeneic blood transfusion (red blood cells [RBC], plasma and platelets), even in the presence of lifethreatening anemia and/or coagulopathy. However, today JW patients can undergo major surgical procedures without facing an excessive risk of death —provided that a prospectively conceived and structured perioperative management is applied.