The Impact of Introducing an Autologous Intraoperative Transfusion Device to a Community Hospital

Implementation of the Continuous AutoTransfusion System (C.A.T.S) in Open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair: An Observational Comparative Cohort Study

“…In contrast, Shuhaiber et al 10 noted that the intraoperative autologous transfusion device did not significantly reduce allogenic blood usage in a study that combined patients undergoing elective and emergency repair. 10 These results differ from our own findings, where in a combined elective and emergency setup, continuous autotransfusion was a significant factor in minimizing allogenic transfusion requirements. The mean overall amount of allogenic blood transfused in C.A.T.S patients of 4 U (range, 0-34 U) was significantly less compared with 9 U in the control group (range, 3-38 U; P = .0001).…”

How would I establish a perioperative blood salvage program?

“…Because the cost of setting up the instrument for a particular surgical case is uniform and the cost of collecting additional units once the instrument is set up is minimal, this cost analysis may describe a cost for the initial unit transfused and then decreasing costs for each additional unit transfused or it may describe the cost when a specific number of units is reinfused (e.g., cost per 2 units vs. cost per 4 units). [27][28][29] Waters and coworkers 15 estimated that their ATS saved their institution more than $2.3 million over 5 years. In 2003, Glenngård and colleagues 27 found at their institution that an allogeneic transfusion of 2 units cost €454.…”

State-of-the-art blood conservation strategies following repair of aortic aneurysms and acute aortic dissection

“…Preoperative AT is contraindicated in cases with seropositivity, ongoing active bacterical infection, serious hemodynamic instability, a hemoglobin level <100 g/L and in a pediatric setting (9). Nonrandomized controlled studies involving aortic aneurysm repairs have been published, mostly reporting a reduction of transfusion volume with CS use and a decrease in the exposure to ABT (42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48). A meta-analysis of multiple RCTs has been published regarding the effect of CS use in elective infra-abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs found a near uniform reduction of ABT (49).…”