AUTOLOGOUS BLOOD TRANSFUSION IN AKITA PREFECTURE-SURVEY IN 2001

The objective of this survey was to study the present status of autologous blood transfusion practice from January 2001 to June 2001 in Akita Prefecture and to evaluate changes in status by comparison with our previous survey in 1994. Questionnaires were sent to 151 surgical divisions of 34 hospitals with more than 50 beds in Akita Prefecture. A total of 112 answers (74.2%) were collected and evaluated.Autologous blood transfusion programs were conducted in 61 divisions (54.5%) in total. This value was increased compared with the previous result. The percentage of performance of autologous blood transfusion was highest in orthopedics (93.8%), and increased remarkably in gynecology. Status of collection and storage management of predeposit autologous blood further improved. Main practical problems identified in this survey were insufficient workforce in the predeposit method, a shortage of knowledge about hemodilutional methods, anxiety concerning contamination such as bacteria or fat, and insufficient workforce in salvaging methods. In future for allogeneic blood transfusion cases, 34 divisions are planning to institute autologous blood transfusion programs, mainly with predeposit method only or both predeposit and hemodilutional methods.Many divisions pointed out that in the promotion of autologous blood transfusion, it is necessary to arrange equipment and workforce, to enlighten doctors and to relieve limitations on medical insurance concerning autologous blood transfusion.