BACKGROUND: Re-transfusion of autologous blood is an important aspect of intraoperative blood management. Hemolysis and platelet dysfunction due to turbulence in the blood suction system strongly impede later usage of suction blood for re-transfusion. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of a novel surgical-blood suction system with an automatic control setup for minimization of turbulence in the blood flow. METHODS: We compared the turbulence-controlled suction system (TCSS) with a conventional suction system and untreated control blood in vitro. Blood cell counts, hemolysis levels according to free hemoglobin (fHb) and platelet function were analyzed to determine the integrity of the suction blood. RESULTS: In the conventional suction system, we found a strong increase of the fHb levels. In contrast, erythrocyte integrity was almost completely preserved when using the TCSS. We obtained similar results regarding platelet function. The expression of platelet glycoproteins, such as GP IIb/IIIa and P-selectin, native or after stimulation with ADP, were markedly impaired by the conventional system, but not by the TCSS. In addition, platelet aggregometry revealed significant platelet dysfunction in conventional suction blood, but less aggregation impairments were present in blood samples from the TCSS. CONCLUSION: Our findings on an in vitro assessment show major improvements in red blood cell integrity and platelet function of suction blood when using the TCSS compared to a conventional suction system. These results reflect a significant benefit for autologous re-transfusion. We suggest testing the TCSS in surgery for clinical evaluation.
Blood Loss, Surgical/prevention & control , Blood Platelets/pathology , Blood Transfusion, Autologous , Hemolysis , Suction/instrumentation , Cardiopulmonary Bypass , Hemoglobins/analysis , Hemostasis , Humans , Platelet Function Tests , Prospective Studies , Vascular Surgical Procedures
