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Blood Conservation Strategies and Bloodless Medicine

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Essentials of Blood Product Management in Anesthesia Practice

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Abstract

Blood transfusion is a commonly performed procedure perioperatively by anesthesia providers. Historically there have been several scenarios where transfusions are avoided due to various risks, refusal by patients, or even simply unavailable. Blood conservation strategies have been developed as means of decreasing or completely eliminating the need for allogeneic blood transfusion. Patients who receive blood transfusions face the intrinsic risk of blood transfusion as developing transfusion reactions, blood borne infection, and transfusion related immunomodulation. Blood transfusions in the perioperative setting are associated with increased rates of pulmonary, wound, and thromboembolic complications as well. Bloodless medicine/surgery encompasses the multidisciplinary strategies that can be implemented in the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative phase to minimize transfusion rates. Bloodless medicine has also been employed in the care of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who may refuse transfusions of specific blood components. Blood conservation strategies are being implemented in the care of the orthopedic patient, as the rate of blood transfusions for joint replacement in the United States is currently rising. In cardiac surgery, limiting blood transfusions leads to decreased postoperative complications and mortality. As bloodless medicine continues to advance technologies and techniques are developed to meet patient needs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Eric Gomez

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Methodist Division, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Mario DeAngelis

  3. Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA

    Henry Liu

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  1. Eric Gomez
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  2. Mario DeAngelis
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  3. Henry Liu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NYU-Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, New York, NY, USA

    Corey S. Scher

  2. Departments of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology Toxicology, and Neurosciences, Louisiana State University School of Medicine-Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, USA

    Alan David Kaye

  3. Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA

    Henry Liu

  4. NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Seth Perelman

  5. NYU-Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, New York, NY, USA

    Sarah Leavitt

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Gomez, E., DeAngelis, M., Liu, H. (2021). Blood Conservation Strategies and Bloodless Medicine. In: Scher, C.S., Kaye, A.D., Liu, H., Perelman, S., Leavitt, S. (eds) Essentials of Blood Product Management in Anesthesia Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59295-0_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59295-0_14

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-59295-0

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