Autologous blood transfusion was used for 44 patients undergoing spinal surgery. In all patients, predeposit autologous transfusion was performed and in 23 patients requiring postero-lateral fusion for thoracic or lumbar spine, intraoperative autologous transfusion was added.
The success rate for avoiding the use of homologous blood was 97.7%.
Intraoperative autologous transfusion was useful for anemic patients worried about the large volume of blood loss.
