Postoperative blood recovery is performed during the immediate postoperative period.
While blood can be collected from surgical drains through a variety of devices, filtered
through a 40-micron filter, and then returned to the patient, the safety of reinfusing
unwashed orthopedic wound drainage and mediastinal drainage has been questioned.
In particular, concerns regarding infusion of fat, fibrin degradation products, activated
coagulation factors and complement have been raised. Furthermore, the amount of red
cells recovered from orthopedic drainage is so limited that many experts consider the
risks to outweigh the benefits. The use of a device designed to concentrate and wash
recovered blood is preferred. If blood is recovered postoperatively, the reinfusion of
such recovered blood must be completed within six hours from the start of collection