Preoperative autologous blood donation in primary total knee arthroplasty: a single-centre experience on 214 consecutive patients

Background and Objectives Although preoperative autologous blood donation (PABD) is a widespread practice in elective orthopedic surgery, it is controversial whether this procedure avoids allogeneic blood transfusions in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Patients and Methods We performed a retrospective study on 214 consecutive patients undergoing PABD before elective primary TKA. Results Thirty‐eight patients (17·8%) were transfused with autologous red blood cells (RBC), while four of them (10·5% of those requiring transfusions, 1·9% of all patients) also received allogeneic RBC. The transfused patients were, in most cases, female and had significantly lower basal and preoperative haemoglobin levels. Conclusions Based on the results of this study, PABD is not necessary in most patients undergoing TKA, although older female patients with low basal haemoglobin levels could benefit from a predeposit programme and/or erythropoietin support in order to reduce the risk of exposure to allogeneic blood.