Challenging the management of bleeding and coagulopathy in ascending aortic surgery in a Jehovahʼs Witness patient: case report

Abstract Introduction: Not transfusing in certain medical settings can be a life-threatening decision; however, Jehovah's Witness patients who reject transfusions have led to learning and multiple medical interventions to avoid it. Despite this, heart surgery follows a specialty that is clearly related to the risk of transfusion, making operating on a Jehovah's Witness patient a challenge. Case presentation: An ascending aorta surgery was performed on a Jehovah's Witness patient, where different strategies were applied, both for blood saving and for the prevention and management of coagulopathy. Results: Surgery of the ascending aorta with extracorporeal circulation was successfully performed without requiring administration of blood components. Conclusions: Adequate planning and implementation of bleeding prevention strategies and coagulopathy management may contribute to avoid and/or reduce the administration of blood products, allowing for the absence of transfusions to not be utopia in major cardiac surgery.