Erythropoietin administration for preoperative autologous blood donation from patients scheduled for orthopedic surgery

Our objectives was to evaluate erythropoietin (EPO) administration for preoperative autologous blood donation from anemic patients scheduled for orthopedic surgery. EPO was administered to 170 patients intravenously (i.v.) and subcutaneously (s.c.). To compare the difference between i.v. and s.c. administration the hemoglobin recovery rates per 10 000 IU of EPO (uHRR) administered i.v. and s.c. were calculated. The i.v. and s.c. uHRR increased by 7.0 and 3.3%, respectively, in patients with admission Hb levels below 9.9 g/dl. The acquisition of scheduled blood was feasible for 54.7% and homologous blood transfusion was not needed for 88.7% of severely anemic patients. Eight patients required homologous blood transfusions and seven showed no response to EPO. We conclude that autologous blood transfusion with EPO treatment for anemic patients is safe and useful.