The efficacy of cell saver method in the surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of the intraoperative blood salvage cell saver method for allogeneic blood transfusion in the surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis with pedicle screw and rod combination. METHODS: The study included 33 patients (5 males and 28 females) who underwent surgery due to adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Patients were divided into 2 groups; 16 patients (mean age: 17.1±3.9 years) in Group A were operated using the cell saver (Medtronic Autolog; autologous cell saver machine) method and the 17 patients (mean age 18.7±6.8 years) in Group B (control group) were treated without cell saver. The Cobb angle, levels of pedicle fixation, operation time, postoperative bleeding, hemoglobin change, allogeneic blood replacement and the amount of autologous erythrocytes were recorded. RESULTS: Mean level of pedicle fixation was 12.9±1.54 vertebra using a mean of 21.1±3.21 screws in Group A and 12.8±1.47 vertebra using 18.7±3.59 screws in Group B (p>005). The mean operation time was 224 (Group A: 228±58; Group B: 221±60) minutes. There were no statistically significant differences in the demographic characteristics of both groups (p>0.05). The preoperative mean hemoglobin levels were 12.2±1.47 mg/dl in Group A and 13.1±1.56 mg/dl in Group B. Postoperative mean hemoglobin level was 11.3±1.62 mg/dl in Group A and 9.86±0.93 mg/dl in Group B (p=0.004). The mean amount of autologous erythrocyte replacement was 284±139 ml. The mean postoperative bleeding was 834±253 ml in Group A and 759±380 ml in Group B (p>0.05). The mean allogeneic blood replacement was 1.88±0.88 units in Group A and 1.94±1.34 in Group B (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Autologous erythrocyte replacement was possible using the cell saver method. However, there was no decrement in allogeneic blood replacement using cell saver in the surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.