Predeposit autologous blood collection is having the patient "donate" one or more units of blood prior to their planned surgery. While this sounds like a great idea, there are several drawbacks:
1) it must be well coordinated,
2) the unit could be misdirected and not available to the patient on the day of need,
3) the date of the scheduled surgery may change with the unit reaching its expiration date before surgery,
4) anemia resulting in the need to transfuse the patient because the unit was collected,
5) incidental findings of exposure to infectious diseases leading to additional stress and paperwork or cancellation of surgery,
6) there are additional costs for tracking and shipping the unit,
7) insurance companies may not pay for the additional costs, and
8) the surgery should be one where there is a high likelihood of the patient needing a transfusion.
