Study finds recycled blood more useful than donated blood.

The Washington Post (5/10, Bernstein) reported that “during some surgeries, operating room personnel try to capture as much blood as possible and return the red blood cells to your system, instead of, or in addition to, donated blood from a blood bank.” Researchers have found “that patients have better outcomes when transfused with their own blood.” A study published recently in Anesthesia and Analgesia shows that “as banked blood sits on shelves for as long as 42 days, the membranes of red blood cells become less able to change shape and squeeze through the smallest capillaries to deliver critical oxygen to tissues.”