Blood loss in prosthetic hip replacement is not influenced by the AB0 blood group.

Objective: To find out if there is a correlation between AB0 type and the amount of blood lost at operation.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: One county and one university hospital, Sweden.

Subjects: 540 patients who underwent primary prosthetic hip replacement under regional anaesthesia. Albumin (n = 298) or dextran (n = 242) were used as plasma substitutes.

Main Outcome Measures: Estimated blood loss and number of units of red cell concentrates transfused.

Results: The characteristics of the study groups were similar. In patients given albumin, the mean (SD) intraoperative loss with blood group 0 (n = 100) was 718 (413) ml and 2.7 (1.9) red cell units were given. Those with other blood groups (n = 198) lost 713 (469) ml and were given 2.5 (2.0) units. In patients given dextran with blood group 0 (n = 82), the intraoperative blood loss was 650 (337) ml, the postoperative loss 480 (222) ml and they received 2.1 (2.1) units. The corresponding values in the patients with other blood groups (n = 160) were 665 (351), 498 (208) and 2.5 (2.1) units.

Conclusion: Blood group 0 was not associated with increased blood loss.