Recommendation Table 49.

Recommendations for shed mediastinal blood management

Recommendations	Class a	Level b	Ref c
Discarding shed mediastinal blood should be considered.	IIa	B	711, 712, 713
Processing and secondary filtration of red blood cells, for example by use of red blood cell salvage, should be considered to decrease the deleterious effects of reinfused shed blood.	IIa	B	712,713

^aClass of recommendation.

^bLevel of evidence.

^cReferences.