Blood transfusion, autologous

The use of a person’s own blood, donated earlier, for blood transfusion. Autologous transfusion eliminates the slight but serious risk of contracting a serious infectious illness from contaminated blood. There is no risk of a transfusion reaction occurring as a result of incompatibility between donor and recipient blood. Up to 3.5 litres of blood can be removed and stored in several sessions at least 4 days apart and up to 3 days before planned surgery. Blood may be salvaged during surgery, filtered and returned to the circulation, reducing the need for transfusion of donated blood.

 

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