Proposal for Internal Quality Management in Intra- and Postoperative Blood Salvage

A proposal of an expert group is reported that was put forward to facilitate the set-up of a system for quality management in intra- and postoperative blood salvage. Retransfusion of unwashed blood is excluded since it cannot meet quality criteria of modern transfusion medicine. Quality assurance is necessary to guarantee the high quality of autologous blood prepared during blood salvage with cell washing. It includes a profound understanding of the composition of shed blood and the preparation process, a thorough documentation, and the measurement of quality control parameters. Process quality can be assessed in regular samples by evaluation of red blood cell recovery (>80%) and plasma wash-out efficiency (>90%). Microbiology testing of this unstored blood is not recommended in sterile procedures for lack of consequence. Product quality should be monitored by volume and hematocrit (>50%) during every application.