DIY Surgical Systems

Blood Salvage

(Note: for a semi-commercial, disposable version of this set-up see EAT-SET - Emergency Autolous Transfusion Set)

KIT: A glass IV fluid bottle containing appropriate volume of anti-coagulant, a glass funnel (chemical laboratory style), small steel bowl, gauze, and a means of securing layers of gauze to the funnel. All packed, wrapped, and sterilised - the bottle in a separate pack.

TECHNIQUE: In situations where spilt blood pooled in a body cavity is considered free of contamination, the blood is scooped up with the steel bowl and poured through 4 - 5 layers of gauze into the bottle which is gently agitated to mix blood and anticoagulant. The collection procedure is carried out under conditions of full surgical sterility. The blood is re-infused, using a blood-giving set, with a filter, if at all possible, when the bleeding is controlled.

NOTE: This technique probably salvages less blood than a suction device, but it does not risk cell damage to the same extent, and costs very little to ‘produce’. It certainly has been in use in parts of Africa for quite some time.

Patricia Coyle FANZCA FRCA

See also: CARE OF THE CRITICALLY ILL PATIENT IN THE TROPICS AND SUB-TROPICS Watters, Wilson, Leaver, Bagshawe. MacMillan 1991 p 378