Autologous blood donation

Autologous blood donation is a form of blood donation in which the patient donates his blood for later transfer to himself ( autologous blood transfusion ). Automated autotransfusion is also used for prompt autotransfusion .

Requirement for autologous blood donation

Due to the limited storage period of leukocyte-depleted whole blood (5 weeks) and red cell concentrates (7 weeks), autologous blood donation can only be considered as a preparatory measure for predictable operations that are expected to require blood. A donation “in reserve” is therefore excluded, unless the red blood cells are stored frozen.

In addition, the blood donor's health must be able to donate. Serious diseases of the heart and circulation, especially those that have not been adequately pretreated, are contraindications. The hemoglobin value must not be too low, otherwise the patient could be endangered by a further loss of erythrocytes . Such a low hemoglobin value is often an indication that the bone marrow cannot produce enough red blood cells and that no additional red blood cells can be obtained with a donation.

advantages

• Compatibility: Your own blood is guaranteed to “fit”, there are no immunological problems, and rare blood groups do not have to be laboriously searched for. The formation of so-called “irregular” antibodies against blood group antigens is also excluded. Such antibody formation can make it difficult or impossible to provide suitable foreign blood reserves in the case of later transfusions.
• Infections: The transmission of viruses and bacteria is excluded, provided the autologous blood donor did not have them himself beforehand. However, autologous blood can also be contaminated by bacteria when it is collected.
• Save foreign blood: Depending on the blood group, blood reserves are sometimes very scarce, especially during the holiday periods. Every autologous blood donation relieves the blood donation services.

disadvantage

• Blood loss: The different components of the blood drawn from the donor are reproduced at different speeds. The leukocytes and platelets and blood volume return to normal within hours to a day. The loss of red blood cells is replaced more slowly. In the case of autologous blood donation, women should therefore usually also be substituted with iron (giving iron tablets) in order to support new blood formation.
• Number of cans: The donation can only be made every 4–7 days at most, otherwise the burden on the organism is too great. In practice one usually makes weekly donations. Since the red cell concentrates can be kept for a maximum of 6 weeks and no donation should be made in the week before the operation, there is a maximum of 4 autologous blood containers. In practice, however, it is often the case that this number cannot be reached because the donor's blood does not regenerate quickly enough.
• Autologous blood donation is viewed critically by transfusion specialists. The strict legal criteria that apply to “foreign blood donors” do not apply to autologous blood donors. For example, patients with an infectious disease ( hepatitis B , HIV ) can in principle donate their own blood, while they cannot be admitted as (foreign) blood donors. Such infectious preserves result in a risk potential that should not be underestimated for the medical staff who have to deal with them.

According to current law, autologous blood may not be transfused to another recipient if it is not needed. Preserved blood is therefore deliberately not printed with the blood group so that it is not accidentally transfused into other patients.

costs

The costs incurred for the autologous blood collection will be billed to the relevant health insurances via the treating hospital as part of the general treatment costs.

Web links

• Advantages and disadvantages of autologous transfusion procedures PDF file
• Questions about the process of autologous blood donation, DRK blood donation service 2016

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Blood transfusion: autologous blood donation at onmeda.de, accessed on May 3, 2016.
2. ↑ In which patients does autologous blood collection make sense? at blutspendedienst-west.de, accessed on May 3, 2016.
3. ↑ Autologous blood ( Memento of the original from October 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at klinikum.uni-muenchen.de, accessed on May 3, 2016. 
4. ↑ Autologous blood donation, legal questions at books.google.de, accessed on May 3, 2016.
5. ↑ Who bears the costs for the autologous blood collection? at blutspendedienst-west.de, accessed on May 3, 2016.

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !