A comparison of 60 blood transfused and 71 nonblood transfused hepatic resection patients was done to evaluate strategies for reducing blood transfusions during hepatic surgery. There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to preoperative laboratory data, except for prothrombin time and hematocrit value. The mean operative blood loss was 1990 ml and 760 ml in the blood transfused and nonblood transfused groups, respectively. A multivariate analysis suggested that the patient’s body weight, preoperative prothrombin time, and operative blood loss independently predicted the need for intraoperative blood transfusion. Major postoperative complications developed more frequently in the blood transfused group than in the nonblood transfused group (31.7 vs. 11.3%, p