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Bloodless Surgery—“A Major Medical Trend”

UNDER the heading “‘Bloodless’ Surgery,” Maclean’s magazine reported that doctors across Canada have been “developing new techniques that, over the past five years, have turned so-called bloodless surgery into a major medical trend.” Brian Muirhead, an anesthesiologist at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre, is one of them. What prompted his search for alternative nonblood management?

In 1986, Dr. Muirhead took on the challenge of operating on a 70-year-old man with a bleeding ulcer who, because of his Bible-based beliefs as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, had asked for treatment that did not require a blood transfusion. (Acts 15:28, 29) Dr. Muirhead “resorted to a little-used method of pumping saline solution into the patient to keep his blood pressure up,” reports Maclean’s. “The procedure was a success, and it reinforced Muirhead’s growing belief that ‘we were giving too many blood transfusions. I thought it was time to look at alternatives.’”

The quest for bloodless surgery was “spurred both by concerns over the future supply of donated blood—and by many patients’ fears of getting a disease virus from a transfusion.” Thanks to the research by innovative doctors, not only Jehovah’s Witnesses but many others have benefited. “Besides eliminating the need for transfusions in many cases, bloodless surgery reduces the risk—however slight—of infection from tainted blood,” says Maclean’s. But even “clean” blood can pose a risk of infection by temporarily suppressing patients’ immune systems.

What is behind the firm belief of Jehovah’s Witnesses concerning alternative nonblood management? You may be interested in reading the brochure How Can Blood Save Your Life? Jehovah’s Witnesses will be happy to share it with you.