Autologous blood donation with recombinant human erythropoietin for abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery

We evaluated the efficacy of autologous blood donation using recombinant hu man erythropoietin for elective abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) surgery reg arding postoperative recovery. Twenty-five AAA patients who completed surge ry without receiving a homologous blood transfusion were divided into two g roups, consisting of a control group (n = 12) who did not bank any autologo us blood, and a donation group (n = 13) who did bank more than 800 mi of au tologous blood with the use of erythropoietin, The hematocrit (Ht) level of the control group decreased from 41.1% +/- 1.2% before the operation to 36 .2% +/- 0.9% just afterwards (P > 0.01). In the donation group, however, th e Ht did not change significantly during either the donation period or the perioperative period. The postoperative period before oral food intake and natural defecation were both significantly shorter in the donation group th an in the control group, The first day of mobilization was also earlier in the donation group. In conclusion, autologous blood donation using erythrop oietin for AAA surgery is therefore considered to promote the early recover y of patients.