Use of recombinant human erythropoietin to assist autologous blood donation by anemic rheumatoid arthritis patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery.

Background: In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients undergoing orthopedic surgery, anemia is the major factor in the use of allogeneic blood.

Study Design And Methods: To determine whether recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) could allow preoperative autologous blood procurement and reduce allogeneic blood exposure, 11 RA patients who were unable preoperatively to deposit blood for autologous use because of their anemia (baseline hematocrit < 34% [0.34]) and who were scheduled for primary total hip replacement or total knee replacement were treated intravenously with 300 U per kg of rHuEPO in combination with intravenous iron saccharate (100 mg), given twice weekly for 3 weeks. The transfusion treatment was compared with that in 12 control patients with comparable baseline hematologic values who underwent the same operation.

Results: Control patients could not preoperatively deposit any blood for autologous use, while all but one of the rHuEPO-treated patients deposited 2 or more units (mean, 2.6 +/- 0.6; range, 2-4) (p < 0.001). The control group received more allogeneic units (2.6 +/- 1.6 vs. 0.8 +/- 0.8) (p = 0.009). Moreover, 50 percent of the rHuEPO-treated patients, as compared with 8 percent of controls, completely avoided allogeneic transfusion.

Conclusion: Recombinant human erythropoietin is safe and effective in stimulating erythropoiesis, allowing preoperative donation of blood for autologous use, and reducing exposure to allogeneic blood for RA patients who are unable preoperatively to deposit blood because of anemia.