The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume
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J Bone Joint Surg Am · Sep 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialPreoperative use of recombinant human erythropoietin before total joint arthroplasty.
Previous reports have suggested that the use of recombinant human erythropoietin is effective for decreasing the need for perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of erythropoietin in combination with, and compared with, preoperative autologous donation for reducing allogeneic blood requirements for total joint arthroplasty. ⋯ Preoperative use of erythropoietin in conjunction with preoperative autologous donation reduces the need for allogeneic blood transfusion associated with total joint arthroplasty more effectively than does either erythropoietin or preoperative autologous donation alone.