Army & Military Blood Medicine | How & Why Could Bloodless Surgery Be Instituted in the US

Out of Need Come Solutions

Whenever you enter a hospital for a routine out-patient surgery or procedure you may be prepared for a blood transfusion. The Red Cross in all crisis and trauma situations asking for blood donors. Stocks of blood are stored for emergency use. But, now thanks to the relentless requests and need by the Jehovah's Witness there is another way that is becoming more widespread.

Based on the Reading of the Bible

The people of this faith refuse transfusions based upon their reading of scripture. The blood is life and shall not be tampered with or ingested. Blood is sacred. Many Jehovah's Witness believe this prohibition is a commandment. They can accept medications. When they undergo surgery there was always a big risk of death if they could not take blood transfusions. The problem they incurred for the past 30 plus years has been the standardized practice of blood transfusions in most situations. They needed another way, which turns out to be a better way. In fact, by learning more about the blood, the storage of blood, the deterioration of blood over time and the way it reacts after being out of the body and then returned the medical community is changing its tune.

Due to the belief system of the Jehovah's Witnesses, medical researches had to solve a problem for this community with the cooperation of both parties. How to solve the problem of blood storage, blood transfusions, and saving lives when there are medical emergencies without giving blood? The medical community also solves a problem of dealing with tainted blood and helping those with communicable disease such as HIV-AIDS with these new procedures.

Although accepted by the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses, a minority does not wholly endorse this doctrine. Facets of the belief have drawn praise and criticism from members of the medical community. There is a list of procedures which may be allowed that include Blood donation strictly for purpose of further fractionation of red cells, white cells, platelets or plasma for either allogeneic or autologous transfusion and a number of other procedures.

After years of research, scientists and physicians have learned that removal and storage of blood does not improve blood flow for the recipient of donated blood. In fact, red blood cells plug up blood vessels, which would normally be dilated, and stick to the blood vessel walls blocking the flow of blood to the tissues and organs.

Due to the revelation of these risks, more hospitals are reducing use of stored blood. Some scientists say that in the history of blood transfusion procedures, there has never been complete testing and research into the therapeutic response.

Is Our Medical Model Changing?

Surprisingly, they think of the medical procedures based upon faith like a religion. Now we are pitting one religion against another. This could be one way to look at it, when we consider the medical system considers their method 'scientific,' whereas anything outside of accepted method is considered 'alternative' or based only upon a belief, thus not scientifically valid.

This leads me to question and leave unanswered, what could be the potential for growth in the medical field when it opens itself up to new ideas and possibilities, even though it appears implausible or illogical in the current view and medical model?

We Are Still Learning

When we accept the fact that we don't know all the answers, then we are open to change and new ideas. These old facts are changing more rapidly due to our technological age. It has been discovered that when the nitric oxide is removed from the tissues by this transfused blood, constriction of the vessels result. With the absence of nitric oxide, reduced blood flow lead to heart attacks and increased risk of infection.

Oxygen Therapy

Without going too far into another direction, I would like to point out that other therapies are used in conjunction with the bloodless transfusions. And, more information is coming out about the importance of healthy cells and tissues from the abundance of oxygen and nitric oxide in the blood.

Storage of Blood

The longer the blood is stored the more deterioration of the blood. The 'life force' of the blood is lost, which can result in higher risk of pneumonia, upper respiratory disease and sepsis. So, when they say, " The operation was a success, but we lost the patient" perhaps we can attribute some of these cases to the blood transfusion. Older the blook higher risk pneumonic, upper resp. and sepsis. The longer the blood is stored, the more biochemical changes occur which weaken the immune system. Not only is the patient fighting to hang on to life, deal with the original illness or trauma, but also to overcome a foreign type of blood cells that do not hold the oxygen or circulate freely through the blood stream to nourish the tissues.

Are We Allowed To Call Them Miracles?

Bloodless surgeries are now taking place across the country, even for open heart procedures without transfusions. The benefits are many.

1. Less expensive. Typically one unit of blood can cost $700, with a total cost of $1500 to the patient for in-hospital procedure. Total hospital bill is reduced.
2. Safer, less risk. Less blood injury from transfused blood, such as inflammation, infection or sepsis.
3. Quicker Healing Time and fewer complications.
4. Without introducing another person's blood, or one's own blood
5. Do not have to delay or cancel surgery due to shortage of blood supply
6. Heart surgeries without transfusions are performed with less complications. For a bloodless surgery it will cost $16,000 compared to $23,000 with transfusions.
7. Bloodless surgery overcomes any religious objections

This miracle method of bloodless surgery can help save soldiers' lives. They have waited 15 years since Englewood Hospitals pioneered bloodless medicine & surgery & now the Department of Defence wants their military doctors to learn the procedures.

The bloodless surgery techniques are being taught to military physicians. It requires to start with a good healthy blood count. They expand the patients own blood volume with the result of less complications and quicker healing time.

Blood transfusions are one of the basic procedures of emergency medicine – but doctors have discovered that they could be killing the patient. Patients who have a transfusion within 12 hours of being admitted to hospital are 25 per cent more likely to die compared with those who didn’t have a transfusion. The transfused patient is also far more likely to suffer further stomach bleeding afterwards. Doctors who made the discovery are calling for an urgent review of transfusion policy. The study was based on records from 221 hospitals throughout the UK, which supplied data on 4,441 patients who had been admitted with acute upper gastro-intestinal bleeding. The researchers, from the University of Nottingham Medical School, say that transfusions should be reserved for patients who have suffered considerable blood loss that could be life-threatening. (Source: Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 2010; 32: 215).

• The end of transfusions as a default procedure? Every year in the US more than 14 million units of blood are transfused. That breaks down to 40,000 units every day.
  
  

• Evidence in favor of bloodless surgery mounts Physicians around the world are now successfully treating patients with bloodless surgery. Evidence shows that many benefits are being realized by using alternative medicine.
  
  

• RCHT's Blood Conservation Programme an example for other NHS Trusts With blood stocks under constant pressure across the country, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust is leading the way when it comes to blood conservation.
  
  

• Medical News: SCCM: Old Blood Bad for Young Bodies - in Meeting Coverage, SCCM from MedPage Today MIAMI BEACH -- If blood used for transfusions is more than 14 days old, it appears to significantly increase the risk that critically ill pediatric patients will suffer multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.
  
  

• Focus on Age of Blood in Transfusions - WSJ.com What's the Shelflife of blood? Does old, donated blood heighten the risk of blood clots, heart attacks and other serious complications? Researchers are stepping up efforts to answer this question.
  
  

• Science Central : Dangerous Blood
  
  

• Blood transfusions found to harm some patients New Scientist Are transfusions the holy grail? Questions are being asked about a pillar of modern medicine.
  
  

• BLOODLESS SURGERY - TIME Fear of AIDS is only one reason doctors are calling for a review of blood.
  
  

• NoBlood - Transfusion alternatives. Blood management. A community of medical professionals and members of the public who are responding to the worldwide concern about the efficacy, cost and availability of donor blood.
  
  

• History of Blood Transfusion Medicine Blood Transfusion History
  
  

• Bloodless Medicine: Emerging Trend in Healthcare: Major Surgeries Performed Without Blood Transfusion With the growing concern of the public with cost, risks, and availability of donor blood for transfusion, more and more doctors are using transfusion alternatives.
  
  

• Hospitals Offering Bloodless Surgery

• The Transfusion Myth on ADVANCE for Administrators of the Laboratory Learn about one hospital's successes with bloodless medicine.

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