Conclusion
Jehovah’s Witness patients undergoing cardiac surgery present a unique
challenge for clinicians. Good communication with the patient and an MDT
approach is required in order to ensure safe and successful treatment.
Overall, within the clinical literature, the use of a bloodless protocol
for these patients does not appear to significantly impact upon clinical
outcomes when compared to non-Witness patients, and it has even been
suggested that a bloodless approach could provide advantages to all
patients undergoing cardiac surgery. However, further research into the
long term outcomes of these patients, especially in larger cohorts and
across multiple centres, is still required.
Human studies: No ethical approval required as no patient
information was involved in this review