The use of cell savers in orthopedic surgery

Presently, cell salvage or autologous transfusion has been incorporated in various surgeries including orthopedics. Especially in spine, hip revision and pelvic surgeries as the anticipated blood loss is always high. In this paper, we review the literature in regard to cell salvage in orthopedics surgery. In terms of indications, contraindications, cost effectiveness and complications. We performed a literature search on PubMed and included the relevant articles. We found that majority of the published literature did not prefer the routine usage of autologous transfusion mainly because it is expensive and may lead to complications. Cell salvage is preferred if the blood loss is expected to be more than 20%, the patient has a rare blood type or if the patient’s beliefs go against allogenic blood.