The Blood Conservation Program at Kettering and Sycamore Medical Centers is a special service for patients who wish to avoid the use of donor blood during medical and surgical procedures. There are many reasons you may prefer a transfusion-free treatment method. You may hold a religious conviction that prevents you from receiving blood transfusions. Or you might feel more comfortable knowing that with bloodless techniques, you virtually eliminate the risk of blood borne illnesses such as hepatitis or HIV.

At Kettering and Sycamore Medical Centers, our state-of-the-art technology combined with our highly skilled physicians, surgeons, and entire patient care staff provides the highest quality medical care possible – without blood transfusions. We have made a special commitment to uphold the religious or personal wishes of those who desire blood conservation medical treatment. All of the physicians participating in this program have a high level of expertise in “transfusion-free” or blood conservation procedures and a personal desire to help individuals requesting non-blood medical management.

Thanks to advances in equipment and technology, physicians and surgeons can safely and successfully perform a multitude of procedures, ranging from routine appendectomies to complex orthopedic and open-heart surgeries, without using blood transfusions.

With the use of the harmonic scalpel, intra-operative blood salvage (cell saver), argon beam coagulator, lasers, electrocautery and the aquamantys blood loss, is kept to a minimum in the operating room.

Upon your admission at Kettering and Sycamore Medical Centers, you will be asked if you are a participant in this program. If you say yes, the Blood Conservation program manager will be paged to follow up and provide more information to you and your family members.

If you know of an upcoming surgery and would like more information, you may call the program manager at 1-800-426-3812.

You will receive a special armband to wear that says “NO BLOOD” on it, a sticker is placed on the front of your chart and you will be asked to sign a consent/advanced directive.

At Kettering and Sycamore Medical Centers, we have developed a menu of all choices of blood products and fractions of products. You will be asked to look at this upon consultation with the Blood Conservation program manager and you have the ability to choose what you want or do not want.

There are approximately 160 programs in the United States. Kettering and Sycamore Medical Centers offer are the only programs in Southwestern Ohio.