The importance of autologous blood transfusion in lung transplantation and cardiovascular surgeries.

Autologous blood transfusion may prevent the development of transfusion-related complications by reducing the amount of allogenic transfusion in major surgical procedures. In our study, the autologous blood transfusion was used in critical patients with major bleeding and, therefore, the total amount of transfused blood/blood product was higher in these patients. Nevertheless, lower complication rates in this patient group emphasize the importance of autologous blood transfusion.