A double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled study was performed with 62 patients undergoing orthopedic hip surgery. Mean hemoglobin levels at surgery, after four weekly blood-donations were 12.3, 12.7 and 13.9 g/dL for the patients receiving placebo, 100 and 200 IU/kg r-hu EPO respectively, via the subcutaneous route. The groups receiving r-hu EPO were operated on without any homologous blood supply. The endogenous erythropoietin levels remained stable throughout the observation period in the treatment groups, whereas they increased in the placebo group. The study confirms the known efficacy of erythropoietin in preoperative autologous blood-donation, but the ideal dose for each individual patient remains to be defined.