YOUR HEALTH: Bloodless heart surgery

NEW YORK, N.Y. (Ivanhoe Newswire) - There are 500,000 open heart surgeries done in the United States every year and half of those patients require a blood transfusion. But what if you’ve had a complication during a transfusion in the past, or if your religion forbids it?

It is a major, life-saving procedure but it can also cause significant blood loss - open heart surgery presents special challenges for patients who must avoid blood transfusions. Mount Sinai cardiovascular surgeon, John Puskas, MD says one key is to prepare well before the patient is wheeled into the OR.

“We give patients something called erythropoietin - a hormone that increases their blood counts prior to surgery,” Dr. Puskas explains.

For bypass patients, Dr. Puskas and his colleagues can use a new surgical technique.

Dr. Puskas further explains, “We do this all arterial, no aortic touch operation, meaning we don’t connect any of the bypass grafts to the aorta.”

By avoiding the aorta, doctors minimize blood loss. The no-touch bypass surgery means they can also avoid putting a patient on a heart-lung machine, which lowers the risk of blood loss. And if patients do lose blood, doctors use a medical procedure to safely recycle it.

“Washed, centrifuge and returned to the patient, so that we use these cell savers or cell salvage devices in the operating room,” Dr. Puskas adds.

There are now about 100 hospitals in the United States with specialized programs that can accommodate bloodless or transfusion-free surgeries. People who are practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian Scientists have religious beliefs that require them to avoid transfusions. Some people have conditions that cause allergic reactions to blood during transfusions.

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