Without question, San Diego is one of the most heterogeneous cities in the United States. Therefore it is no surprise to see that many have a different culture and different perspective in certain matters, including the way they receive medical treatment. Of these there are those who for religious or personal reasons wish to avoid blood transfusions during surgery.

Of all the hospitals in San Diego County, Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center is the only one that offers an established and well organized program for such patients, the Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Center.

Established seven years ago, the Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Center was created with the objective of finding adequate alternatives in order to avoid a blood transfusion. Thanks to technology advancement, those medical options are now available, and the results have been phenomenal.

For example, Orthopedic surgeon Harbinder Chadha M.D. recently gave a seminar about bloodless orthopedic surgery, and stated that patients that receive an orthopedic surgery with a blood transfusion take a week or more to recover. However, patients that chose the alternatives recovered in two days or even the next day after the surgery.

Dr. Chadha is extremely enthusiastic about the bloodless surgery outcomes and told all those present that he will be sharing his results at a national conference in order to get more doctors interested in using blood conservation techniques.

General Surgeon Hugo Barrera M.D (left) and Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Center Manager Jorge Martinez (right) explain the medical procedures used for those who refuse the use of blood.

General Surgeon Hugo Barrera M.D., the medical director of the Bloodless Program Center, can’t agree more with Dr. Chadha. In the seven years that he has worked in the Bloodless Surgery and Medicine Program Center he has seen how patients that do not receive a blood transfusion recover faster and are ready to go home sooner than those patients that do receive a transfusion. Obviously, its no coincidence; the doctors of Sharp Chula Vista have nearly a decade’s worth of data to prove it. Bloodless medicine surgery is the new “gold standard” in the medical field.

Here are some of the alternative you can chose instead of a blood transfusion.

• Erythropoietin: Known as EPO, erythropoietin is hormone derived from the kidneys which is made into an iron-containing preparation injected into a patient to promote the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow. This is especially effective for patients that are anemic as it can aid the body to produce blood cells up to four times faster than normal. Synthetic EPO is now available as well.
• Blood Salvage Machine: Known as “Cell Saver”, this machine acts similar to the suction machine device at a dentist’s office. During surgery, the the Cell Saver collects the blood being lost by the patient, filters it, and recirculates it back into the patient . Thus, blood that otherwise would be lost during surgery is salvaged and the patient avoids needing a blood transfusion.