Okay so I was doing some reading on splenic tumours and came across the term ‘autologous transfusion’, and thought ‘huh, that’s unfamiliar, wonder if it means what it sounds like’.
And yeah. Turns out it does. You suction up the blood your patient is pumping out into your operation site, filter it, and just put it in a bag and connect it to a drip. Hey presto.
But it lead me to this ABSOLUTELY HORRIFYING TIDBIT OF MEDICAL HISTORY.
“ There is some evidence that in 1785 Philip Physic of Philadelphia transfused a post-partum patient.[2] However the first documented use of autologous blood transfusion was in 1818 when an Englishman, Rey Paul Blundell, salvaged vaginal blood from patients with postpartum hemorrhage. By swabbing the blood from the bleeding site and rinsing the swabs with saline, he found that he could re-infuse the result of the washings. This unsophisticated method resulted in a 75% mortality rate, but it marked the start of autologous blood transfusion.[3] “
Is this legit, Wikipedia? Holy. Shit. D: D: D:
