Bloodless surgery is an approach to health care that began in
the 1960s as simple avoidance of the use of transfused blood. It
has grown over the last four decades, however, to include
changed attitudes toward blood conservation as well as new
technologies that minimize the need for transfusions during
surgery. The Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at
Hartford Hospital in Connecticut defines bloodless surgery as
"...surgical and medical treatment without the administration of
blood or blood-related products." The new interest in bloodless
surgery has emerged from a variety of religious and social
concerns as well as medical, legal, and economic issues.
Religious and ethical considerations One of the earliest
motivations for bloodless surgery was finding ways to treat
Jehovah's Witnesses who needed emergency surgery without
offending their beliefs about blood transfusion . Many of the
larger bloodless surgery centers in the United States serve
areas with a large population of Jehovah's Witnesses. The s