Can my friends and family donate blood?
Many patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty will require transfusion either during surgery or in the postoperative period. For this reason, you may choose to donate your own blood in the weeks before surgery in case a transfusion is necessary.
The process by which you donate blood for surgery is called autologous blood donation. You donate your own blood to the blood bank at the hospital where you are having surgery. The blood can be stored for about 5 weeks. Most patients will donate a first unit two and a half weeks before the scheduled day of surgery and the second unit one and a half weeks before surgery. Maintaining a time interval between blood donation and surgery will allow your body to form new blood cells and rebuild your blood count after donation. You may be given medication such as iron to help your body form new red blood cells.
The blood you have given is processed by the blood bank and will be available during surgery and after-wards. Most patients who are in good general health are candidates for autologous blood donation. If, however, you have a low blood count, chronic anemia or other medical condition where blood donation might put you at risk, then autologous blood donation should not be considered. Your orthopaedic surgeon and your primary physician can help you make this decision.
The obvious benefit of donating your own blood is that you are not exposed to diseases such as hepatitis and HIV, which may in very rare instances be trans-mitted through banked blood. Even though the risks of transmission through banked blood are very small, they are not zero.
It is not known what percentage of donated autologous blood is actually given back to patients undergoing hip surgery. In some circumstances you may give blood but not require transfusion at all.
If you cannot give your own blood then directed blood donation from a relative or friend may be an option. Of course, the blood would have to be compatible with your own blood type in order to be useful. Interestingly enough, using directed blood does not appear to lessen the risks of disease transmission as compared to banked blood.
Options are also available for blood collection during and after surgery. Most commonly a suction drain is used that can store blood for up to six hours after surgery. The blood can then be given back as a transfusion as soon as it has been collected.
Most patients will choose to give their own blood or have directed blood given before surgery. Your orthopaedic surgeon can review your blood donation options with you.