An audit on the current practice of red blood cell transfusion following elective primary hip arthroplasty.

This audit encompassing a six-month period on the current practice of red blood cell transfusion following elective primary total hip arthroplasty showed that the rate of allogeneic blood avoidance was 84.8% for preoperative autologous blood donors and 47.8% for non-donors (p<0.001). Lower preoperative hemoglobin level was associated with an increased allogeneic unit transfusion (p<0.001). The intraoperative use of autologous blood collection and transfusion systems did not reduce the transfusion risk, and the use of the colloid volume expander was associated with a 1.8-fold increased risk of transfusion (p=0.022).