Surgery

Bloodless Surgery

Patient Blood Management and Bloodless Surgery Services

There are thousands of patients from the U.S. and abroad that have received medical care and undergone highly complex procedures and surgeries (open heart, colorectal, orthopedic, brain) without blood transfusions at Legacy Health System. We perform all types of major and minor surgery for adults and pediatrics without the use of blood transfusions.

International recognition

Established in 1991, the internationally renowned Legacy Bloodless Surgery and Medicine Program is the most experienced program of its kind in the U.S. and serves all specialties of both adult and pediatric medicine. Our program has worked closely with the Hospital Liaison Committee for Jehovah’s Witnesses since 1991.

We offer the program at Legacy medical centers, supported by our medical directors, program coordinators and a large staff of caring, highly qualified physicians, nurses and pharmacists. As a health care team, our goal is to take care of and respect each patient’s needs and concerns.

We are proud to take care of our patients as a team and continue to be champions of bloodless guidelines and protocols. Within each specialty, we are committed to patient safety and satisfaction. We are proud to offer many high-quality, safe, and effective alternatives to blood transfusions.

Before surgery, based on the results of a patient current blood test, doctors may recommend medications and dietary supplements to ensure optimal levels of hemoglobin. After surgery, our team will continue to minimize blood loss and enhance blood production through medication, technology, and nutritional therapy.

Accessing Care at Legacy Health System

All our surgeons and anesthesiologists participate in the patient blood management and bloodless surgery program and are intimately involved in all clinical aspects of patient blood management. Please call us directly at 503-413-8396 for a referral to a surgeon that will fit your specific medical needs.

Our team at Legacy Health System accepts a wide range of insurance plans, as well as Medicare. With so many insurance companies, and the specific needs of patients who seek bloodless surgery, we can assist patients on a case-by-case basis to negotiate with their insurance companies. Each ambulance service has its own policy about where to take patients. You can ask for a direct transfer to Legacy, but at times you may live some distance away, or need to route to a closer hospital for medical stabilization.

If you, family member, or friend needs or wants to be transferred to Legacy from another hospital, or seek a medical doctor to doctor consult, please page 503-237-5617, and you will connect to one of the patient blood management staff to walk you through the steps. We are available for emergencies 24/7.

At Legacy Health System, patient blood management and bloodless surgery options are a system-wide effort. A team of healthcare physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and dietitians work together to assess each patient specific needs.

At Legacy Health System, the patient blood management team is notified of any patient who is one of Jehovah’s witnesses or a non-blood product patient for whom blood transfusion is not an option. The patient blood management team makes appropriate documentation and ensures consents are signed for No Blood Transfusion patients.

Legacy respects the religious and personal beliefs of everyone. That's why our bloodless surgery program exists — to provide medical care without blood transfusions to all appropriate patients.

Trusted technologies

Acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH): a blood conservation technique used in the operating room by an anesthesiologist. Some blood is lost in the process of surgery, however, since this blood has been diluted; it is "thin" or has few cells and more liquid. The anesthesiologist returns the blood that was removed and has the ability to give back to the patient fresh, whole, cell-rich blood at the right time.

Albumin: A protein made in the liver and distributed through the body by the circulatory system. Albumin helps maintain or increase blood pressure and blood volume.

Blood salvage: Intra-operative cell salvage, or "cell saver" machines, collect and recycle blood lost in surgery.

Clotting factors: Clotting factors are plasma to guide the thinning and clotting of blood.

Erythropoietin (EPO): A hormone that stimulates production of red blood cells in your bone marrow. Erythropoietin (synthetic) is made from a very small amount of albumin (0.01 percent), a protein fractionated from plasma donor blood. EPO is an option to consider for individuals with religious objections to taking transfusions.

Heart-lung machine: The heart-lung machine is used in heart surgery to recirculate and oxygenate the patient's own blood.