Transplant international : official journal of the European Society for Organ Transplantation
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Transpl. Int.
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Intra-operative blood salvage (IBS) reduces the use of allogeneic blood transfusion. However, safety of IBS during liver transplantation (LT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is questioned due to fear for dissemination of circulating malignant cells. This study aims to assess safety of IBS. ⋯ Use of IBS was not associated with impaired disease-free survival (HR 1.07, 95%CI: 0.65-1.76, P = 0.800) nor with increased HCC recurrence (Cause-specific cox model: HR 0.79, 95%CI: 0.36-1.73, P = 0.549, Fine and Gray model: HR: 0.79, 95%CI 0.40-1.57, P = 0.50). In conclusion, IBS during LT did not increase the risk for HCC recurrence. IBS is a safe procedure in HCC LT recipients to reduce the need for allogenic blood transfusion.