Bloodless surgery

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"Bloodless" redirects here. For the phrase "bloodless coup", see Coup d'état § Types of coups.

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Bloodless surgery is a phrase that was popularized at the beginning of the 20th century by the practice of an internationally famous orthopedic surgeon, Adolf Lorenz, who was known as "the bloodless surgeon of Vienna".[1][2][3][4] This expression reflected Lorenz's methods for treating patients with noninvasive techniques. His medical practice was a consequence of his severe allergy to carbolic acid routinely used in operating rooms of the era. His condition forced him to become a "dry surgeon".[5]

Contemporary usage of bloodless surgery refers to both invasive and noninvasive medical techniques and protocols. The phrase is somewhat confusing.[6] The expression does not mean "surgery that makes no use of blood or blood transfusion". Rather, it refers to surgery performed without transfusion of allogeneic blood.[7][8] Champions of bloodless surgery do, however, transfuse products made from allogeneic blood and they also make use of pre-donated blood for autologous transfusion.[9] The last twenty years have witnessed a surge of interest in bloodless surgery, for a variety of reasons. Jehovah's Witnesses reject blood transfusions on religious grounds; others may be concerned about bloodborne diseases, such as hepatitis and AIDS.

During the early 1960s, American heart surgeon Denton Cooley successfully performed numerous bloodless open-heart surgeries on Jehovah's Witness patients. Fifteen years later, he and his associate published a report[10] of more than 500 cardiac surgeries in this population, documenting that cardiac surgery could be safely performed without blood transfusion.

Ronald Lapin (1941–1995) was an Israeli-born American surgeon, who became interested in bloodless surgery in the mid-1970s. He was known as a "bloodless surgeon" due to his willingness to perform surgeries on severely anemic Jehovah's Witness patients without the use of blood transfusions.

Patricia A Ford (1955-) was the first surgeon to perform a bloodless bone marrow transplant.[11]

Principles of bloodless surgery

Several principles of bloodless surgery have been published.[12]

Preoperative techniques such as erythropoietin (EPO) or iron administration are designed to stimulate the patient's own erythropoiesis.

In surgery, control of bleeding is achieved with the use of laser or sonic scalpels, minimally invasive surgical techniques, electrosurgery and electrocautery, low central venous pressure anesthesia (for select cases), or suture ligation of vessels.[13] Other methods include the use of blood substitutes, which at present do not carry oxygen but expand the volume of the blood to prevent shock. Blood substitutes which do carry oxygen, such as PolyHeme, are also under development. Many doctors view acute normovolemic hemodilution, a form of storage of a patient's own blood, as a pillar of "bloodless surgery" but the technique is not an option for patients who refuse autologous blood transfusions.

Intraoperative blood salvage is a technique which recycles and cleans blood from a patient during an operation and redirects it into the patient's body.

Postoperatively, surgeons seek to minimize further blood loss by continuing administration of medications to augment blood cell mass and minimizing the number of blood draws and the quantity of blood drawn for testing, for example, by using pediatric blood tubes for adult patients.[13] HBOC's such as Polyheme and Hemepure have been discontinued due to severe adverse reactions including death. South Africa was the only country where they were legally authorized as standard treatment but they are no longer available.

Benefits

Bloodless medicine appeals to many doctors because it carries low risk of post-operative infection when compared with procedures requiring blood transfusion. Additionally, it may be economically beneficial in some countries. For example, the cost of blood in the US hovers around $500 a unit ( Feb 2012 Red Cross charges $700/unit - according to union rep in OH and hospitals' cost is about $1000 to $1500/unit- real cost is usually 5 times these amounts when everything is added in ), including testing.[14] These costs are further increased as, according to Jan Hoffman (an administrator for the blood conservation program at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania), hospitals must pick up the tab for the first three units of blood infused per patient per calendar year. By contrast, hospitals may be reimbursed for drugs that boost a patient's red blood cell count, a treatment approach often used before and after surgery to reduce the need for a blood transfusion. However, such payments are highly contingent upon negotiations with insurance companies. Geisinger Medical Center began a blood conservation program in 2005 and reported a recorded savings of $273,000 in its first six months of operation.[15] The Cleveland Clinic lowered their direct costs from $35.5 million in 2009 to $26.4 million in 2012 - a savings of nearly $10 million over 3 years.[16]

Health risks appear to be another contributing factor in their appeal, especially in light of recent studies that suggest that blood transfusions can increase the risk of complications and reduce survival rates.[17][18] Thus the recovery rate is faster with bloodless surgery allowing the patient to leave earlier.

References

[19] [20]

  1. ↑ The New York Times Oct 26, 1902 p 7
  2. ↑ The New York Times Sep 10, 1906 p 1
  3. ↑ New York Times Dec 25, 1902 p 3
  4. ↑ New York Times Nov 22, 1926 p 3
  5. ↑ Jackson et al., Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, January 2004; 17(1): 3–7.
  6. ↑ Farmer S, Webb D, Your Body Your Choice The layman's complete guide to bloodless medicine and surgery, 2000 pgs. Preface, 11, 16.
  7. ↑ Farmer S, Webb D, Your Body Your Choice The layman's complete guide to bloodless medicine and surgery, 2000 pg. 11, 14, 75.
  8. ↑ Dailey, John F, Dailey's Notes on Blood Fourth Edition, 2002 pg. 198.
  9. ↑ Farmer S, Webb D, Your Body Your Choice The layman's complete guide to bloodless medicine and surgery, 2000 pg. 144-5.
  10. ↑ Ott DA, Cooley DA. Cardiovascular surgery in Jehovah's Witnesses. Report of 542 operations without blood transfusion. JAMA. 1977;232:1256-1258.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Goher et al., Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2005; 87: 3–14.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Time Magazine, Bloodless Surgery, by John Langone, October 1997; page 5 [1].
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 18
  17. ↑ The team focus on improving blood transfusion.
  18. ↑ Early death and late morbidity after blood transfusion of injured children: a pilot study.
  19. ↑ 17.First Do No Harm Documentary http://www.asiageographic.com/productions_pnn.html
  20. ↑ 18. Cleveland Clinic- Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323494504578340962879110432.html?mod=wsj_streaming_stream

See also

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