DOCTORS HOSPITAL LAUNCHES
LIFE SAVING TECHNOLOGY

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Blood, one of our most precious resources, is nearly always in short supply. Surgeries, chemotherapy, and other medical treatments allow people to live longer than ever before, but this results in a continually growing need for blood. At the same time, fewer people are qualified or willing donors, so there is a widening gap between blood supply and demand. Cell Saver technology is an important part of the answer to this problem.

Upholding its mandate to be the best healthcare provider in the region, Doctors Hospital recently announced its newest initiative made available to the public - blood conservation. Blood conservation techniques yield healthier outcomes and shorter lengths of stay for patients, and have the potential to lower costs for both hospitals and patients.  This intra-operative re-infusion technique known as cell salvage involves collecting blood that is lost through one's own bleeding, cleansing it of impurities and returning the red blood cells to the patient via a closed-circuit system of intravenous tubing.

Designed to be used during surgery as a blood conservation technique, the Intra-operative Cell Salvage device is a machine that recovers blood lost during the procedure, spins it, washes it, filters it and replaces the red blood cells back into the body.  Built-in safety features protect the patient's blood.  The purpose of cell salvage is to retain the patient's own blood, thus avoiding a costly and sometimes risky transfusion.  The Intra-operative Cell Salvage device - also called the "cell saver" -- is often used during surgeries known to cause significant blood loss – such as hip and knee replacements, gynecological surgery, prostate surgery and vascular surgery.  It represents a guarantee that the patient will receive the safest and best blood possible: his own.

Looking to better understand exactly what the Cell Saver does in layman’s term, local Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Dr. Duane Sands was asked to explain.  “The cell saver is a device that can capture the blood that is being shed during surgery, carry it through some tubing into a chamber that purifies its, removing any waste products and then returns the red blood cells to the patient through a vein in the arm in the usual way.
The machines used exclusively by Doctors Hospital are capable of completing the entire cycle with little or no interruption to the circuit. In this way the patient’s blood has not lost contact with their body and has not been stored, simply recycled.”

Cell saver blood is your own blood that has been temporarily diverted through some equipment and returned to the circulatory system. The cell-saver technique offers several important advantages over donor blood. First, the blood cells being replaced are the patient's own.  Another advantage is that the cell-saver can be used for both planned and emergency operations and there is no limit to the amount of blood that can be returned to the body, resulting in significant cost savings. In addition, infection rates are lower and recovery times are quicker.

The cell-saver device also creates viable options for those who refuse blood transfusions due to religious beliefs. The blood is kept in a non-blood primed, continuous closed circuit with the body, allowing such patients to accept medical treatment.  “Choosing blood conservation offers many benefits. Studies have proven that patients have equal or better outcomes when they avoid a transfusion – this is true even for patients undergoing open-heart surgery.  By choosing blood conservation you can decrease your risk of infection, decrease your risk of transmitted diseases and viruses, avoid allergic reactions and complications, spend fewer days in the hospital and lower your medical costs” said Dr. Sands.

In the last few years, the world’s pool of eligible blood donors has shrunk considerably and less than five percent of the eligible population donates blood. What blood conservation is all about is reducing the use of blood and utilizing blood more effectively for people who need it.  Additionally, studies have found that bloodless surgeries result in fewer infections than those surgeries that use autologous donations - blood donated by the patient weeks before the operation.

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