Background

This study investigated whether intraoperative blood salvage was associated with coagulation disorder diagnosed by conventional coagulation tests and thromboelastography (TEG) after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

Study design and methods

This was a prospective, observational study. Ninety-two patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery with CPB were enrolled. We evaluated coagulation function in patients with or without cell salvage blood transfusion at the following time points: before CPB, just after protamine administration, and 1 h after protamine administration. We evaluated platelet count, fibrinogen concentration, and TEG parameters. Patients were considered to have coagulation disorder if one or more of the following criteria were present: (1) residual heparin, (2) low platelet count, (3) low fibrinogen level, (4) low clotting factor level, and (5) hyperfibrinolysis.

Results

Fifty-three of 92 patients (57.6%) received intraoperative cell salvage. Coagulation disorder was observed in 56 of 92 patients (60.9%) after CPB. There was no significant difference between patients with or without intraoperative blood salvage in terms of the incidence of coagulation disorder (p = 0.542) or the total volume of blood from the drain after CPB (p = 0.437). Intraoperative blood salvage was not associated with coagulation disorder diagnosed by either TEG or conventional coagulation tests (odds ratio 1.329, 95% confidence interval: 0.549–3.213, p = 0.547). There were no significant interactions between patients with or without intraoperative blood salvage regarding coagulation parameters derived from TEG.

Conclusions

The incidence of coagulation disorder and the total blood volume from the drain after CPB did not differ significantly between patients with or without intraoperative blood salvage.