Perfusion for the jehovah's Witness Patient: An Example of Protocol Variability

Abstract

Several translated verses in the New and Old Testaments provide Jehovah's Witnesses with influential guidance when they are to undertake a surgical procedure. These patients refuse to accept homologous blood or its components for transfusion. They also refuse to accept autologous blood for re-transfusion if it has been isolated from the body. This case report communicates the perfusion protocol variations in equipment selection, hemostasis management. and religious respect that resulted in optimal cardiac surgery for a Jehovah's Witness.