The cell saver and the transfusional need in patients undergoing cardiac surgery

Abstract

Objetive: Patients undergoing cardiac surgery are at high risk of being transfused with blood during the postoperative period, due to the decrease in haemoglobin and haematocrit levels. One of the alternatives to blood transfusion is the use of the intraoperative cell saver. The objective of this study was to identify whether the use of the intra-uremic cell saver decreases the transfusional rate during the immediate postoperative period. The immediate postoperative complications were also demonstrated in both groups. Material and

Methods: Analytical, prospective study with two cohorts of patients distributed in control group (162) and intervention group (162). Sociodemographic variables, their diagnoses and surgical treatments, time of cardiac ischemia, haemoglobin, haematocrit, blood transfusion and haemorrhages, as well as variables specific to the cell saver were analyzed. The complications studied were; haemoglobinuria, fever, nausea and vomiting. The informed consent of all the patients was obtained and the data was submitted to the statistical package SPSS version 22.0.

Results: The haemoglobin and haematocrit values of patients after surgery were different between groups (GC, 8.3 g/dl, 22.8%, GI, 10.4 g/dl, 31.1 g %). Coinciding that the major transfused were those of the control group (18.2%) versus the intervention group (3.9%). The group that presented the greatest complication was the intervention group (13.6%) who were those who used the cell saver. Hemoglobinuria (82%) being the major complication.

Conclusions: Patients who used the cell saver decreased the need for transfusion, but were the ones with the highest incidence of hemoglobinuria.