Safety and Efficacy of Acute Normovolemic Hemodilution in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Patients

Blood transfusion has been associated with worse outcomes in pediatric cardiac surgical patients. The major complications associated with it include increased blood loss during and after surgery, kidney disease requiring dialysis, abnormal coagulation profile, increased vasopressor use, and increased time spent on the ventilator and in the intensive care unit. One strategy to minimize blood product administration is acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH). The investigators primary aim is to determine if ANH for pediatric cardiac surgical patients decreases the volume of blood products transfused during surgery and the immediate post-operative period, compared to usual care. The investigators designed a randomized, controlled, open label study that equally assigns 24 pediatric cardiac surgery patients aged 6 months to 3 years into two groups to receive either ANH prior to initiating cardiopulmonary bypass or usual standard of care. Participants in the ANH arm of the study will have 10 ml/kg of blood removed following anesthetic induction. In order to maintain normal circulating volume, the collected blood will be replaced with an equal volume of 5% albumin. All participants will be treated with a standardized protocol aimed at blood conservation including the use of retrograde arterial and antegrade venous perfusion, small circuit size, intraoperative red blood cell salvage, and low hemoglobin targets to trigger transfusion.