Usefulness of Preoperative Autologous Blood Donation for Spinal Fusion

Background: Major orthopedic surgical procedures, including spinal fusions, require 2 or 3 units of transfusion. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of autologous transfusion by comparing the postoperative infections, the pre- and postoperative serological changes, the amount of transfusion during the operation and the segmented estimated blood loss of the patients who received spinal fusion surgery. Methods: We analyzed 106 patients who were undergoing spinal fusion surgery and among them, 69 patients were operated on with using autologous transfusion, while 37 cases were operated on with using homologous transfusion. Results: The segmental estimated blood loss was approximately 574.4131.8 mL in group 1 and 635.3250.1 mL in group 2. The mean number of transfused units in the autologous transfusion group was 2.10.3 units and this was 3.50.6 units in the homologous transfusion group. There was no significant statistical difference in the hemoglobin level or the complications between the two groups, yet the duration of fever in the group with homologous transfusion was 3.00.4 days, which was increased compared to that of group 1 (1.41.3 days). Conclusion: The total amount of transfusion and blood loss for the patients who were operated on using autologous transfusion were less, as compared to those for the patients who were operated on with homologous transfusion, and the patients with homologous transfusion showed a significantly decreased duration of fever. It seems that autologous transfusion is a way to shorten the duration of fever and increase the satisfaction of the patients.