2003 Volume 49 Issue 1 Pages 40-43
We present a new surgical blood management method. In this method, surgical blood units in elective operations are divided into two groups, a group of crossmatched blood judged as having a high probability of being used in transfusions, and a group of un-crossmatched blood with a low probability of being used during or early after the operation. Each blood group is ordered separately before the operation. If excessive bleeding occurs, the reserved blood units are transfused using either crossmatched or un-crossmatched blood, using the well-known Type and Screen method. This new method was implemented in our hospital beginning in April 1998. The number of crossmatched, reserved, and transfused blood units in general surgery from January 1995 to December 2001 were reviewed. During this period, the total number of transfused blood units decreased slightly and blood units that were crossmatched but not used decreased remarkably (Fig. 2). Therefore, the ratio of crossmatched to transfused blood decreased from around 2.0 to less than 1.5 (Fig. 3). In this method, it is necessary for the surgeon to make two blood-ordering sheets for one patient. This somewhat intricate procedure will have a provocative effect on efficient utilization of limited blood products.
