Is there an advantage to using your own blood?

If you use your own, you can be sure it’s not contaminated. Otherwise, there is always a risk, although a small one, that you could catch something from the blood put in you.

Now, can I write a silly response?

My own blood is contaminated (hepatitis in 1980), but I wouldn’t think my own contaminated blood could harm me. But then again, what do I know? I’m just the guy who delivers your mail to the house next door.

they do have a machine called a “Cell Saver”, that takes blood, “recycles” it and returns it to your body. Another option is prior to surgery, have your own blood stored and used in case of blood loss.

keep in mind, too, that often it’s not that you need blood, but simply need to increase the volume of your blood, which can be done with things like Riger’s <sp?> solution and the like.

my personal opinion is that a good surgeon can do the job without significant blood loss. there are instances of heart surgery, brain surgery, etc. done without a transfusion or much blood loss.

We only type blood to a certain degree. There are more factors than just A, B, O, and the Rh factor. If you are transfused with your own blood you know all of the factors will match, not just the ones we test for.

And of course, you will only get the contaminants you already have, no new ones. However, if you have cancer or an infection you would do better to get a transfusion of someone else’s “clean” blood.

Arguably, if you are a Jehovah’s Witness or in a religion that is against blood transfusion, it is possible that you could justify having your own blood returned to your body when not able to consider a donor transfusion.

This gives some of the pros and cons of autologous blood transfusion versus donor blood transfusion, and also mentions bloodless surgery.