Use of erythropoietin in Jehovah's Witness children following acute gastrointestinal blood loss.

The decision to transfuse children in families practicing the Jehovah's Witness faith with human blood products raises medical, legal, and moral questions. Two cases are presented in which recombinant human erythropoietin was used in pediatric patients as an alternative following acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage. The patients demonstrated increased hematocrit levels obviating the need for blood transfusion. Although erythropoietin is not an alternative to hemotransfusion in the unstable patient, it may be an option in the hemodynamically uncompromised Jehovah's Witness patient following acute blood loss.