AN increasing number of people are asking to have their own blood taken for use during surgery as a result of the adverse publicity concerning the Blood Transfusion Service Board, a Co Mayo gynaecologist has said.
Dr D.J.D. Corcoran, in a letter to The Irish Times, said that as a practising gynaecologist he was greatly concerned at the increasing loss of confidence in the blood units and blood products supplied by the BTSB.
"As a result of statements made by Ms Mary Harney and other public figures, some patients are now requesting autologus transfusion (the collecting of two units of their own blood prior to surgery or delivery, for retransfusion to them if needed)," Dr Corcoran, who works at Mayo General Hospital, stated in the letter.
Meanwhile, the National Medical Director of the BTSB, Dr Willy Murphy, said blood supplies are very low at present. They are contacting donors and asking them to make a donation as soon as possible.
"The demand has been very high and our reserves are low. We need people to donate," Dr Murphy said.
Dr Corcoran said it should be realised that autologus transfusion is in many ways a "psychological reassurance", as in the event of a blood transfusion being really life-saving - as opposed to correcting post-operative anaemia - generally much more than a two-unit transfusion is required.
As it is not usual or possible to harvest more than two units, the balance still has to be made up by transfusion of units from other donors, he said.
In addition, he said, there are an additional range of hazards in the practice of autologous transfusion which must be taken into account.
"We must realise that in spite of recent problems, we still have an excellent transfusion service which very rarely presents serious risk to our patients."
Dr Murphy said the BTSB wanted to encourage more people to lay down their own blood prior to elective surgery. The BTSB offers this service, he said, which is usually done five weeks in advance. In North America around 25 per cent of blood transfusion for planned surgery is autologus, said. In several US states it is a facing surgery to lay down their own blood, he said.
Most operations would need just two units of blood, including hip surgery, aortic surgery, and cardiac by-pass operations.