Kettering Medical Center, KMC-Sycamore To Use Bloodless Surgery

Religious beliefs and fear of exposure to AIDS and Hepatitis C will make many patients refuse surgery that could be critical to their health. But now, patients who refuse blood transfusions will have another option at Kettering Medical Center and KMC-Sycamore.

Beginning Aug.1, the two hospitals will offer the only Blood Conservation Program in southwest Ohio. This new program gives transfusion-free surgery options to tens of thousands of people in the Miami Valley.

"Many of our patients do not want other people's blood or any outside protein products in their bodies through surgery processes," said Dawn Myers, RN, Manager of the Blood Conservation Program. "The closest hospital offering such a program is in Columbus. We think it is going to be really well received here in Dayton."

"Although the public commonly refers to bloodless surgery, it is not completely bloodless," said Gary Anderson, DO, a general surgeon at KMC. "It's the closest anyone can come to bloodless surgery, and it is done without introducing blood from others, which is terribly important to many, many people."

Patients who choose the bloodless surgery are fited with a "no blood" wrist band, telling all clinicians and caregivers that they are averse to outside blood. The patients also fill out a menu of acceptable materials so the medical center can meet the standards of the patient's specific convictions.