Benefits of the use of blood conservation in scoliosis surgery

Table 1 Case mix and patient demographics

Group	n	Median age (range)	Case mix
A	37	15 (8-33)	8 posterior
			3 anterior
			12 anterior/posterior staged
			2 anterior/posterior combined
B	30	16 (9-57)	8 posterior
			3 anterior
			6 anterior/posterior staged
			7 anterior/posterior combined
C	30	15 (11-74)	22 posterior
			1 anterior
			2 anterior/posterior
			3 anterior/posterior combined

Table 2 Allogeneic red cell transfusion requirements

Group	Proportion requiring ARCT	Total number of units received	Mean ARCT (standard deviation)
A	22/37 (59%)	84 (73 units packed red cells, 8 units fresh frozen plasma, 2 units of cryoprecipitate and one unit of platelets	3.82 units (3.79)
B	17/30 (57%)	50 units packed red cells	2.94 units (1.82)
C	16/30 (53%)	37 units packed red cells	2.19 units (0.91)

ARCT: Allogeneic red cell transfusion.

Table 3 Cost analysis comparing groups A, B and C

	Group A donor blood only	Group B cell salvage	Group C cell salvage + ABT drain
Number of RBC units transfused	84	50	37
Total cost of RBC transfusion (£)	10416	6200	4588
Number of patients receiving cell salvage	0	30	30
Total cost of cell Salvage (£)	0	2100	2100
Number of patients receiving ABT drains	0	0	30
Total cost of ABT drains (£)	0	0	1620
Overall transfusion cost	10416	8300	8308
Number of patients	37	30	30
Overall cost per patient (£)	281.51	276.67	276.93

RBC = £124; cost of cell salvage ACD-A, collection and processing kit = £70; costs of a single ABT drain = £54. ABT: Autologous blood transfusion; RBC: Cost of one unit of blood; ACD-A: Acid citrate-dextrose anticoagulant.