What is Autologous Blood Donation?

Autologous blood donation (or PAD) is the process of donating one's own blood prior to a planned surgery to avoid or reduce the need for a transfusion of somebody else’s blood.  PAD is generally indicated when there is a reasonable chance that a blood transfusion will become necessary, when the patient is in fairly good health to donate blood, and when there is enough preoperative time for the patient to donate.

What are the advantages of autologous blood donation?

• Prevents transfusion-transmitted disease,
• Prevent red cell alloimmunization (developing anti-bodies to blood),
• Decreases the need for transfusion with other peoples blood,
• Prevents some adverse transfusion reactions,
• Provides reassurance to patients concerned about blood risks

• A small risk of bacterial contamination.
• A possibility that a patient's blood will be mislabeled or that somebody else’s blood will be transfused,
• Unused self donated blood is usually disposed of at the end of their shelf life  if they are not needed
• May cause a lower blood count just before surgery which will increase the likelihood of transfusion,
• An unnecessary blood transfusion may occur simply because an autologous blood supply exists.
• If surgery is cancelled or postponed, the blood units may be discarded if past their shelf life
• Occasionally some people feel light headed or dizzy during or after the donation; fainting can occur.
• There is a small chance there may be some technical difficulty with the donation process like the bag breaking during processing, not enough blood is collected at the time of donation or not very good veins to draw blood from

Candidates for Pre-Operative Autologous Donation (PAD)

Candidates for pre-operative blood collection are reasonably healthy patients scheduled for surgery where a transfusion is likely. Each patient is assessed on an individual basis.

Who are not good candidates for PAD

There are certain medical conditions that make patients not very good candidates to pre donate. Donor-patients considered not to be candidates are those with:

• Evidence of infection,
• Heart disease or stroke or blood clots,
• Seizure disorder
• On certain medications like insulin
• Uncontrolled hypertension (high blood pressure)

If you want to consider autologous donation for your upcoming surgery:

• Talk to your surgeon about the risk for transfusion for you with the intended surgery
• Talk to your family doctor about your overall health and blood counts (know your hemoglobin)
• Contact the Blood Conservation Service to assist you with your decision making and to coordinate the process