Autologous Blood Transfusion

An autologous blood transfusion is a transfusion of the patient’s own blood. It is a viable alternative to donor blood for many surgical patients. A patient’s blood can be collected prior to surgery, stored in a blood bank, and made available for transfusion to the patient during and after the surgical procedure. This requires a patient to be in relatively good health and to go to a blood collection center in the weeks prior to surgery to donate the necessary units of blood. The blood is discarded if it is not used during the surgery.