A Growing Demand for Bloodless Medicie and Surgery - Conclusion of a Preferred Method

 Doctors have now successfully applied bloodless techniques during operations and emergency procedures that traditionally required transfusions.  "Major cardiac, vascular, gynaecological and obstetrical, orthopaedic, and urological surgery can be performed successfully without using blood or blood products," notes D.H. W. Wong, in the Canadian Journall of Anaesthesia.

One advantage of bloodless surgery is that it promotes better-quality care.  "The surgeon's skill is one of the greatest importance in the prevention of blood loss," says Dr. Benjamin J. Reichstein, a director of surgery in Cleveland, Ohio.  A South African legal journal says that in certain instances surgery without blood can be "quicker, cleaner, and less expensive."  It adds: "Certainly the aftercare treatment in many instances had proved cheaper  and less time consuming."  These are a just a few of the reasons why some 180 hospitals around the world now have programs specializing in bloodless medicine and surgery. 

Next time: A Growing Demand for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery - Blood and Jehovah's Witnesses

From the jw.org publications