Autologous blood recovery. A guide for health care providers.

Autologous blood recovery devices have taken on new importance in the effort to conserve finite resources of blood products in the face of ever-growing demand. By incorporating this technology in the vascular, orthopedics, and cardiovascular arena, substantial savings of blood will be realized. The expanded utilization of autologous blood recovery will enable an already burdened blood supply system to continue to provide an adequate source for our patients. It will also help assuage our patients' fears by limiting their exposure to homologous products and the attendant risk of infection by blood-borne pathogens.