Enhancing the safety of intraoperative RBC salvage

Devices for intraoperative blood salvage remove plasma and, in theory, all of the cellular elements of blood except for rbcs. We have previously shown that complete white cell and platelet removal does not always occur and that the retained platelet-leukocyte deposit is potentially harmful (2). In this study we investigated the hydraulic conditions in the centrifuge bowl that allow activated platelets and leukocytes to adhere, the histology of the resulting cellular deposit, and the effects of reinfusing a saline extract of the deposit. Earlier work had suggested that the addition of calcium, of partially clotted blood, and of excessive saline should be avoided during intraoperative rbc salvage (2). The present observations explain, in part, why such measures would be expected to be beneficial.