Reduction of blood usage in open heart surgery.

A series of 142 adult patients undergoing open-heart surgery were studied. All known blood-conservativing methods were utilized in an attempt to use as little blood as possible. Hemodilution, autologous transfusion, prevention of wasting of blood, and management of postoperative anemia were the measures employed. An average of 2.66 units of blood were given per patient during the entire hospital stay. Twenty patients were not given any blood at all. The patients were removed from cardiopulmonary bypass without difficulty when the hematocrit reading was in the high teens or low twenties. Later in the postoperative period the patients seemed to progress without difficulty with hematocrit readings of 22 to 25 percent.