Fragnito 1995.

Methods	To determine if autotransfusion of unwashed shed mediastinal blood led to a reduction in post‐operative banked blood requirements a prospective randomised study of 82 patients undergoing myocardial revascularisation was conducted in 1994 at the Cardiovascular Center of Parma. Method of randomisation and allocation concealment were not described [Italian article].
Participants	82 patients undergoing myocardial revascularisation were randomised to one of two groups: Group 1 (Autotransfusion group): n=41; M/F=37/4; mean (sd) age = 60.2 (9.3) years Group 2 (No Autotransfusion group): n=41; M/F=33/8; mean (sd) age = 62.7 (8.9) years
Interventions	Group 1: Autotransfusion group (Atrium 2550 autotransfusion system) had their drained blood processed using the autotransfusion system. Group 2: Control group did not receive autotransfusion.
Outcomes	Outcomes reported: amount of blood collected by the cell saver, number of patients transfused allogeneic blood, amount of allogeneic blood transfused, blood loss, mortality.
Notes	Transfusion threshold: allogeneic blood transfusion was given during surgery if the haemoglobin level fell below 7.5g/dL.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Method used to generate allocation sequences was unclear.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Method used to conceal treatment allocation was unclear
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	High risk