Posted by Steve Giddings on August 28, 2001 at 09:55:15:
In Reply to: Blood Transfusion posted by Henry Alken on August 27, 2001 at 16:23:13:
Depending on what your initial red cell mass is , you may or may not need a transfusion. Surgeons are willing to accept a lower blood count at the end of surgery than they used to, however, and even pump surgery is often done without need for transfusion.
Carl mentioned autotransfusion, or getting relatives to donate specific blood foryour surgery. MAny medical centers no longer do this becasue the blood supply is now so safe, that the biggest problem with transfusion is human error, which is very small,but still occurs. If you do naything out of the ordinary, it increases the chance for mistakes.
An alternative to autotransfusion or designated transfusion is to take erythropoieten (EPO) for about 6 - 8 weeks prior to surgery. This can increase your red cell mass to the safe maximum. Unfortunately is is expensive (~$5000-$6000) and because it is not at present the standard of care,it isnot covered by insurance (at least it wasn't 2.7467 years ago when I had my surgery). It might be worth asking about. There was a bunch of stuff just beginning to appear in the medical literature at that time.