Is consent obtained to permit transfusion of salvaged autologous blood?

A nurse who works in a recovery room where they transfuse blood drainage from orthopedic procedures points out that at times the volume of salvaged blood can be as much as 800 mL. She and her colleagues have been advised by their risk management team that there is no need to obtain a consent for blood transfusion when salvaged blood is the only product transfused to a patient. She wonders if this approach is practiced at other institutions.

The following comments have been received.

ADDENDA February 20, 2009

A Bloodless Medicine/Conservation Coordinator at a South Carolina hospital has graciously shared a copy of their blood consent form, which offers patients the option of consenting for receipt of their autologous blood.

Submit Comments to the e-Network Forum below:

Items marked with an asterisk (*) are required entries. Please note that there is a 60 minute time-out on this form. if one anticipates taking more than 30 minutes or so to compose the submission, we recommend composing your comments in a word processing application, and performing a copy and paste of your text into the comments field.
* Name
Title
Affiliation
* email address
* Enter email address again to verify
* Do you wish to have attribution for your comments?	Yes No
* Your Comments
*Please indicate if this is a new question, or if you are commenting on an existing discussion:	New Question Existing, Name:
File Attachments (2MB limit)
To help us prevent SPAM, you must enter the the validation code EXACTLY AS IT IS DISPLAYED in the image directly to the right of the text entry field below in order to submit this form. Please note that the validation code is CASE SENSITIVE.

Ira A. Shulman, MD
CBBS e-Network Forum Editor & Moderator

W. Tait Stevens, MD
CBBS e-Network Forum Assistant Editor & Moderator

The e-Network Forum is supported in part by the California Blood Bank Society (CBBS) and the American Red Cross Blood Services (ARCBS) and endorses collegial discussion among blood banking and transfusion medicine professionals. However, neither the CBBS nor the ARCBS in any way endorse the specific views and opinions expressed in the forum. The forum is not intended as a substitute for medical or legal advice and the content should not be relied upon for any medical or legal purposes. Readers should make their own determinations as to: (i) what constitutes appropriate medical, technical, and administrative practices, and (ii) how best to comply with laws and regulations relevant to their questions. For the latter, they should consider consulting, as to any medical matters, a qualified physician, and, as to any legal matters, an attorney familiar with related state and federal laws. The user of the forum, by accessing same, assumes all risks arising out of such use and releases CBBS and their respective members, directors, officers and agents from and against any loss, damage, claim or liability arising out of such use of the Forum.