PREOPERATIVE AUTOLOGOUS BLOOD DONATIONS - A 5-YEAR EXPERIENCE IN TRINIDAD-AND-TOBAGO

A pre-operative autologous blood donation programme was started in 198 8 and made available to all doctors offering elective surgical procedu res. Two hundred and seventy-seven (277) patients presented for autolo gous donation over a five-year period. Nine point four per cent were r ejected because of low haemoglobin (< 10.5 g/dl). The single biggest u ser of the programme was the Princess Elizabeth Hospital for handicapp ed persons. Patients undergoing orthopaedic procedures gave 50% of the donations, and ranged in age from 10 to 73 years. The oldest donor wa s a 73-year-old man who had an abdominal aortic aneurysm replaced. Gyn aecological surgeons in the public and private sectors together provid ed 43.9% of donors, 3.6% of These underwent elective Caesarean Section , each donating one unit of blood at 36 weeks. Patients undergoing gen eral surgical procedures comprised 10.4% of donors. Autologous donors contributed 1.3% of the total number of donations over this period.