COPYRIGHT © 2002 BY THE JOURNAL OF BONE AND JOINT SURGERY, INCORPORATED Erythrocyte Viability in

Background: Erythrocyte salvage, the collection of a patient’s blood shed from the surgical wound, is one as-pect of blood management. Previous investigators have examined salvaged blood for content; however, to our knowledge, none have examined the viability of erythrocytes after exposure to the chemical and thermal reac-tions produced by motorized instruments and polymethylmethacrylate during surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine the viability of salvaged erythrocytes from patients undergoing primary total joint arthroplasty with cement. Methods: Erythrocyte viability studies were performed on specimens from three subjects with use of a double isotope-labeling technique employing chromium-51 and technetium-99m. With use of a fresh blood specimen obtained prior to surgery and a specimen of salvaged blood that had been recycled, washed, and filtered with use of the Cell Saver, the viability of the Cell-Saver-processed erythrocytes, labeled with chromium-51, was cal-culated on the basis of the technetium-99m-labeled red blood-cell mass. Results: The mean erythrocyte viability (and standard deviation) in blood salvaged with use of the Cell Saver was 88.0 % ± 3.8%. The standard of the American Association of Blood Banks for minimum erythrocyte viability in adequately cross-matched allogeneic blood or predeposited autologous blood is 70%. Conclusions: The high rate of viability of the erythrocytes in this study shows that the Cell Saver is a valuabl