Heparin-induced coagulation disturbance through machine autotransfusion

Disorders in blood coagulation during the use of autotransfusion have been reported in recent literature. We wondered whether or not heparine, remaini ng in the prepared sam pie of retransfusion blood might be responsible for these disturbances. Methods: Therefore we created a setting in which heparine was added to anim al blood in order to imitate clinical situations during the use of the CELL SAVER. Results: According to our results the blood shows no irregular heparine loa d as long as the machine is used following the operating instructions. But if the volume of rinsing liquid is decreased or the pumpflow is increased, the heparine load is increased enormously (Table 1). Conclusions: If the CELL SAVER is used with reduced volume of rinsing liqui d or higher velocity of the pump, the coagulation status of the patient has to be monitored meticously.