A "small but growing" number of hospitals are embracing "bloodless" surgery, a technique originally developed to help patients with religious objections to transfusions. Supporters argue that bloodless surgery is actually safer than traditional surgery and note that recovery times are generally shorter. Of course, "bloodless" doesn't actually mean bloodless--it actually means "transfusion-less." Pennsylvania Hospital is home to one program that specializes in bloodless surgeries. Doctors there now routinely perform open heart surgery using the approach.
- read this Los Angeles Times article [1]
Links:
[1] http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/ats-ap_health11apr24,1,4391299.story?coll=sns-ap-tophealth