"QUOTES"

Bloodless Surgery and Medicine

"The military made many crucial contributions to blood management by taking care of the thousands of wounded operated on before transfusions became feasible."
The History and Organization of Blood Management, Blackwell Publishing

"Every surgery performed before the era of blood transfusion was, strictly speaking, a ‘bloodless surgery.’"
The History and Organization of Blood Management, Blackwell Publishing

"The experience of the early surgeons serving near the battlefield is applicable in today’s blood management schemes."
The History and Organization of Blood Management, Blackwell Publishing

"There may be a significant number of patients who delay or even decline surgery because of concerns about the blood supply. Bloodless surgery provides an alternative…"
University Times

"Few of the technologies used in bloodless medicine are new."
David Shook, BusinessWeek Online

"Older concepts about oxygen transport to tissues, wound healing, and ‘nutritional value’ of blood are being abandoned. Experience with patients demonstrates that severe anemia is well tolerated."
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery

"Commitment, education, cooperation, and communication are key factors for a successful blood management program."
The History and Organization of Blood Management, Blackwell Publishing

"Clearly, out of humble beginnings as an outsider specialty, blood management has evolved to be in the mainstream of medicine."
The History and Organization of Blood Management, Blackwell Publishing

"Many transfusion textbooks and regular medical journals have incorporated the subject of blood management in their publications."
The History and Organization of Blood Management, Blackwell Publishing

"Because miscarriage can occur at any time in a pregnancy, the bloodless patient needs to seek medical help at any sign of bleeding."
Dr. Winsome Parchment, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New Jersey Medical School.

"While the equipment and technology make bloodless medicine and surgery possible, I truly believe that they are secondary to the mindset of why we have them: to practice the best medicine we can."
Dr. Deitch, Chairman of the Department of Surgery at New Jersey Medical School

"[Bloodless surgery] has now grown into a serious practice being embraced by internationally respected clinicians and institutions."
V. Martin et al, (Abstract)Transfusion and Apheresis Science 2002 Aug;27(1):29-43

"Bloodless procedures and techniques are being taught in medical schools today. In the next 10 to 20 years, I see bloodless practices becoming the norm, rather than a rarity."
Dr. Deitch, Chairman of the Department of Surgery at New Jersey Medical School

"More than 75,000 doctors practice bloodless surgery in the U.S."
Time Magazine- Oct 01,1997

"Among the benefits are reductions in recovery time, hospital stay, cost and complications -- as well as an estimated $20,000 in savings per patient."
Dr. Charles Bridges, Cardiologist, Pennsylvania Hospital

"Bloodless surgery has slowly, but increasingly, crossed over to mainstream patients."
Health Industry Today – Dec 1998  

"10% to 15% of patients requesting bloodless surgery [do so] for other than religious reasons. Some facilities report rates as high as 25%."
Health Industry Today – Dec 1998  

"We perceive that hospitals will see bloodless surgery as a marketing strategy- that they will be 'forced' to provide an alternative to traditional surgery requiring transfusions."
Frank Stephenson, VP of marketing and sales for Harvest Technologies

"Bloodless surgery centers … are powerful arenas that attract patients who…refuse blood.”
AORN Journal  11/1/1998  Author: Kahn, Barbara; Trovarelli, Tricia; Vernon, Sharon

"Paul Potter, M.D., and a keynote speaker at October's NABMS convention, estimates that using [bloodless surgery] in half of all procedures would save the heath care industry $3.7 billion a year."
Health Industry Today – Dec 1998  

"Hospitals must pick up the tab for the first three units of blood infused per patient per calendar year. By contrast, hospitals may be reimbursed for drugs that boost a patient's red blood cell count."
Jan Hoffman, Administrator, Blood Conservation Program, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pennsylvania

"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

"Traditionally, bloodless surgery could not be used for cancer patients because there was no way to remove cancer-tainted blood before returning it into the body. However, technological advances allow us to completely clear blood of cancer cells, providing cancer patients with a new multitude of options. Blood surgery for cancer patients is a true medical breakthrough."
Daniel Burzon, M.D., Director of Bloodless Surgery at Ocean Medical Center

"It [is] likely that the demise of the blood transfusion as a therapy [will] take place in the next three decades." 
Dr Ivor Cavill, senior fellow -  Haematology , Cardiff University

"Patients enrolling in bloodless surgery programs [are] 'proactive' people who are aware that they have choices about health care and expect medical professionals to respect their decisions. This attitude is a considerable change from the ‘doctor knows best’ passive acceptance that characterized previous generations of patients."
Encyclopedia of Surgery

"Bloodless surgery is also preferable to having patients transfused with their own blood."
Dr. Charles Bridges, Cardiologist, Pennsylvania Hospital