Nursing care of elderly people undergoing autologous blood transfusion
Mónica Rández Alvero, Ana Isabel Carrascosa Ridruelo, Yolanda Ladrón Lorente, Julia Laceras García, Jesús Calavia Lacarra

SUMMARY

   Nowadays, the increase on the life expects and its best quality allows the incorporation of a higher number of old patients in surgery protesic proceedings. These aggressive interventions suppose a high transfusion possibility, with the risks of secondary effect it gives rise to. The autotransfusion is a blood saving technique, which in addition reduces the number of complications joined to allogenic transfusion.

   Due to the increase of predeposit hem donation request in older people, we have made a retrospective study in our workcenter regarding our experience in this procedure.

   It has been detected that complications and secondary effects are relatively minor if a good patients selection is made, and in the opposite, advantages obtained are multiple: it allows the patient to reach the surgery intervention moment with good amount of haemoglobin in blood, what means a lower blood transfusion risk and blood saving in the blood banks, and on the other hand it is not exposed to the immune and infectious risks joined to a common transfusion.

KEY WORDS

   Autologous blood transfusion, operative surgical procedures, blood donation.

Vol. 15 nº1-2004