Can Infants and Children Have Bloodless Surgery?

"The latest beneficiary of the bloodless technique is 7-month-old Aiden Michael Rush, who is recovering in Los Angeles after a liver transplant.”  -CBS News Feb. 23, 2001

“Transfusion has …. never been FDA-tested.”  -Bruce Spiess, Anesthesiologist and Transfusion expert –Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center

Can Infants and Children Have Bloodless Surgery?
Absolutely. Bloodless Surgery has been performed during a liver transplant in a 7 month old without using blood. And more …

• Craniofacial disorders                       • Heart Valve Repair
• Open-heart surgery                            • Neurosurgery
• Congenital heart defect                     • Heart Transplant
• Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome      • Thoracic Surgery
• Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery       • Neonatal Thoracic

One hospital with a staff of over 300 Bloodless Physicians offers the following procedures in its Bloodless Pediatrics program:

• Kidney Center
• Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care
• Neurosurgery
• Trauma

The best care is here now
Parents don’t have to wait, the future is her now. Infants, children, preteens and adolescents can all benefit from Bloodless Medicine and live the rest of their long lives without the specter of a deadly disease looming over them or the fear of post-surgical mortality associated with blood transfusions.

More than seventeen hospitals in the United States specialize in treating children.

Legal Restrictions placed on Bloodless Surgeons
In most jurisdictions a judge can override a hospital’s judgment, even though judges aren’t doctors. Bloodless Hospitals are bound by these legal restrictions.  The Patient Self Determination Act of 1990 gives adults – patients over the age of 18 – the right to refuse any medical treatment, this includes blood transfusions. The Patient Self Determination Act does not give parents the right to make the same decision for their children that they would make for themselves. Individual states may have enacted laws setting transfusion triggers and surgeons may be bound by these laws despite their better judgment and experience. Hospitals are legally bound by these restrictions; their hands are tied.

Bloodless Hospitals know and are convinced of the safety, superiority and beneficial effects of Bloodless Surgery and will do everything in their power to perform Bloodless Operations on minors.

A Bloodless Surgeon's hands are tied
The following excerpt from The University Hospital is typical of a Bloodless Hospital’s legal obligation:

“Whenever possible, consultation with or referral to a physician more experienced in bloodless management will be undertaken before a court order to administer blood is sought.”

Remember the United States is a patchwork of sometimes conflicting and confusing laws. What applies in one state may not apply in another. If a parent is seeking Bloodless Surgery for their child they need to examine all their options and discuss the legal issues with their Bloodless Hospital Liaison. If there is sufficient time prior to surgery and the parent is not comfortable with a particular state’s record of honoring parent’s rights to determine what is best for their child then they have the option of seeking Bloodless Surgery in another state.

See our list of Bloodless Hospitals that specialize in treating children and infants.

What do the experts say about Bloodless Surgery for children?
"In a way, children are better risks than adults when it comes to bloodless surgery. They have no heart disease, no arteriosclerosis, and they bounce back faster."  -Dr. Francisca Velcek, Chief Of Pediatric Surgery, Long Island College Hospital 

“Red blood cell and blood product transfusion in the fetus, neonate, and premature infant are often administered with poorly defined indications and unintentional adverse consequences.”  -NL Luban, Current Opinion in Hematology. 2002 Nov;9(6):533-6  

“Forty-eight hours after red blood cell transfusion to premature infants, there is an absolute decrease in red blood cell precursors, immature white blood cells and platelets.”  -B Frey, (abstract) Journal of Pedeatrics and Child Health 2002 Jun;38(3):265-7

“A total of 51,720 (4.8%) pediatric patients received blood product transfusions during the study period… Resource use in terms of length of stay and costs were higher in patients who received transfusion.”  -A.D.Slonim et al Transfusion (Abstract). 2008 Jan;48(1):73-80. Epub 2007 Sep 24

“Open heart surgery was achieved without blood transfusion in the selected group of small children.”  -Makoto Ando, MD et al, Annals of Thoracic Surgery 2004;78:1717-1722

"Bloodless open-heart surgery, originally developed for adults ... now has been safely adapted for use in delicate cardiac procedures in infants and children."  -Cardiovascular News, February 1984, p. 5