Retransfusion of Residual Circuit Blood after Cardiopulmonary Bypass:Research Advances in Safety and Processing Methods
LIU Xiali
YU Xiang
LUO Dan
LUO Ming
WANG Bo
WANG Yishun
DU Lei
XIONG Jiyue
Abstract：The blood remaining in the oxygenator and the circuit after cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB)is named as"residual circuit blood"or"circuit blood".The volume of residual circuit blood ranges following an adult CPB procedure is approximately 400-1200 mL.In most medical centers,this blood is typically collected into sterile infusion bags and directly retransfused to the patient.However,the management may also bring the risks such as infection,hemolysis,bleeding,and organ injury which may be due to bacterial contamination,erythrocyte damage,clot formation,and leukocyte activation during storage in the bag.To mitigate the risks,clinical strategies including using blood bags compatible with CPB connectors and containing red cell preservation solution,with concurrent protamine infusion to neutralize heparin ex vivo prior to patient administration,and/or processing the blood via centrifugation washing or leukocyte filtration before reinfusion.This review summarizes the risks associated with the retransfusion of residual circuit blood and the corresponding processing methods,aiming to assist clinicians in enhancing blood conservation efficacy.The goal is to concurrently reduce both allogeneic blood transfusion requirements and the risks inherent in retransfusing residual circuit blood.
Keywords：cardiopulmonary bypassresidual circuit bloodrisksprocessing strategies
Publication Date：2026-02-28
Online Publishing Date：2026-03-20(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 82-86 )