Humoral immune response to autologous blood transfusion in hip surgery: whole blood versus packed red cells and plasma

Background and Objectives The immune response to the transfused autologous buffy coat content in whole blood has, to date, not been studied in detail. Subjects and Methods Patients undergoing hip arthroplasty were studied according to whether they received autologous whole blood (WB) (n = 30), autologous fresh‐frozen plasma and buffy coat‐poor red cells (RC) (n = 40), or no transfusion (NT) (n = 27). Plasma levels of tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and complement SC5b‐9 were analysed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) 7 days after surgery. Results There were no significant between‐group differences regarding the time course of TNF‐α, IL‐6 and complement SC5b‐9 plasma level changes, the infection rate, or the length of hospital stay. Conclusion In comparison to the impact of surgery on cytokine and complement levels, the transfusion of autologous buffy coat is not relevant.