Helping the advancement of safer tumour surgery
Excessive blood loss during animal cancer operations can be a major problem for surgeons because blood transfusions carry significant challenges. There is a scarcity of blood replacement products due to the shortage of donors. Also, blood received from another patient can produce a transfusion reaction causing the new blood cells to be destroyed immediately.
In human surgery, blood transfusions have been revolutionised by the use of Cell Saver units, which collect and save the patient’s own blood. The unit cleans the harvested blood before redelivering it back to the patient.
“We understand how surgery that originally seemed very achievable can suddenly become life-threatening due to persistent bleeding. We know that use of Cell Saver units is still a rarity in veterinary practice, so we’re delighted that our donation will be able to make such a valuable difference at such a critical moment in the surgery.” Jim and Fiona Hindle, Rumba Animal Cancer Foundation.
The Cell Saver continues to be used during those procedures where excessive blood is being produced or where surgeons can expect a lot of bleeding to occur.
Professor Nick Bacon, Clinical Director at AURA and Professor of Surgical Oncology, University of Surrey, said: “We’re so pleased that patients will be able to benefit from the Cell Saver in some of our most challenging tumour operations. We’re also excited that the lessons learnt will be contributing to the advancement and knowledge within the rapidly developing field of auto-blood-transfusion in pets and humans who are undergoing cancer surgery.”
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