Beschreibung:
<jats:title>SUMMARY</jats:title><jats:p>Preoperative autologous blood donation (PABD) is the most widely utilized autotransfusion technique. However, improvements in allogeneic blood safety and increased pressure on cost‐containment command a review of its role by analyzing the need, feasibility, efficacy and cost‐effectiveness of the procedure. Residual risks and shortages of donor blood still support the need for PABD. Experiences worldwide show that the technique has a good feasibility profile when hospital resources are appropriately organized and support its safety in the majority of the patients scheduled for elective surgery. Studies in the United States and Europe demonstrate that PABD is effective in reducing exposure to allogeneic blood. However, the cost‐effectiveness of PABD has been claimed to be poor. Thus, strategies should be adopted to reduce the direct costs of PABD, to optimize its efficacy, and to reduce the collection of unnecessary blood units. PABD should be appropriately planned in order to derive the greatest physiologic benefits from blood collections. For example, it is necessary to start PABD at least 20 days before the operation, to collect at least two units of AB (autologous blood), and to monitor the patient's iron status. A personalized approach to define the patient's transfusion requirements can facilitate the decision about enrollment in a PABD program and define the number of units to be collected from a given patient.</jats:p>