Effective use of blood in elective surgical procedures

Autologous blood has certain advantages over cross‐matched homologous blood; this paper describes the initial experience at Flinders Medical Centre with a preoperative autologous blood transfu‐sion service. The system has proved to be practical, cost‐effective and to have a limited but definite place as part of an overall transfusion programme. Despite its value, the service has been under‐utilised.