Post Operative Blood Salvage and Transfusion Reactions

[BUGGIE]

The Medical/Surgical department is revising their policies and procedures for using the Stryker Constavac Blood Conservation System. These will be reviewed and approved by the Transfusion Medicine Medical Director but all other responsibility for training, instalation, labeling, transfusing, monitoring, and reporting to the Transfuion Committee is with this department. They are wondering how to handle autotransfusion transfusion reactions. If there is a reaction should lab be notified to do a work up as with regular transfusions. What are your thoughts?

[David Saikin]

Yes - you would have to consider complement activation / bacteria / and I am sure a host of other possibilities.

[Likewine99]

I agree with David. I experienced this once when I did pediatric BB. There was lots of free hgb in the system from traumatic injury to the RBC's. Pt was fine though!