Indication, incidence and management of blood transfusion during sinus surgery: a review over 12 years.

The number of reports about blood transfusion-related HIV and hepatitis virus infections is increasing, presently. Thus, it should seriously be considered to inform the patient of any anticipated blood loss necessitating a transfusion of blood products. This is especially necessary for surgical procedures with only a low risk for high blood loss, such as endonasal surgery as a common otorhinolaryngological procedure. However, reports about the incidence of blood transfusion during this kind of surgery are very rare. The medical histories of 6,296 patients who underwent sinus surgery between 1982-1993 in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Kiel were analyzed. Twenty-nine of these patients received a transfusion. Risk factors for required blood, the necessity of pre-operative information and the recommendation policy for pre-operative donation of autologous blood are discussed. The intra-operative blood losses of 120 patients who did not require a transfusion and who underwent sinus surgery in 1986 and 1989, were analyzed. The transfusion rate was 0.46% on average during the 12-year period. The incidence of blood transfusion and the amount of intra-operative blood loss decreased after combination of endonasal surgery with controlled intra-operative hypotension (0.07%; p < 0.01). Risk factors for the necessity of a transfusion in these cases were extensive polyposis and purulent exacerbation of the disease. There are risks for a blood transfusion in endonasal surgery. Every transfusion carries a certain risk for the infection with HIV or hepatitis, therefore every patient should be informed about the possibility of a blood transfusion prior to the operation. Endonasal microscopic sinus surgery performed by well-trained surgeons, combined with controlled intra-operative hypotension lowered the risk for a transfusion significantly (p < 0.01).