n. reintroduction into a patient of his or her own blood. This may be blood previously drawn and stored in the blood bank or blood that has been lost from the patient’s circulation during surgical operation. The blood is collected by suction during the operation, filtered to remove bubbles and small blood clots, and returned into one of the patient’s veins through a drip. See also cell saver.
a machine that aspirates blood lost during surgery and immediately spins, washes, and filters it for retransfusion back into the patient’s body (see autotransfusion). The process, called intraoperative cell salvage, is used in surgery that has significant blood loss, such as orthopaedic and vascular surgery and Caesarean section, and avoids the costs and risks of *allogeneic transfusion.... cell saver
n. 1. the injection of a volume of blood obtained from a healthy person (the donor) into the circulation of a patient (the recipient) whose blood is deficient in quantity or quality, through accident or disease. Direct transfusion from one person to another is rarely performed; usually packs of carefully stored blood of different *blood groups are kept in *blood banks for use as necessary. Before a blood transfusion the recipient’s blood type is tested so that only blood that is compatible will be transfused to reduce potentially life-threatening transfusion reactions. During transfusion the blood is allowed to drip, under gravity, through a needle inserted into one of the recipient’s veins. Blood transfusion is routine during major surgical operations in which much blood is likely to be lost. 2. the administration of any fluid, such as plasma or saline solution, into a patient’s vein by means of a *drip. See also autotransfusion.... transfusion
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