Blood utilization in orthopedic and trauma practice

Abstract

Objectives:Very little is known about blood utilization in orthopedic and trauma surgery and there is no definite policy in this regard. Our objective is to perform an audit on our practice of blood utilization in the orthopedic department.Methods:We have retrospectively analyzed the data of patients who were admitted between January 2011 and December 2012 to the orthopedic male, female and pediatric wards for which blood products were requested.Results:Three hundred and eight patients were admitted for surgery during the study period. The average age was 35.12 ± 20.4 years and postsurgery they stayed in the hospital for 25.60 ± 10.5 days. Blood products were requested for 223 trauma surgeries. In elective orthopedic procedures, only 42.78% of the blood requested was utilized while in trauma patients it was 55.25%.Conclusions:A substantial amount of blood and its product was used in trauma and elective orthopedic surgeries. There was a major discrepancy between the blood requested and utilized and secondly in the majority single unit transfusion was utilized, which is not within the fundamentals of blood transfusion.

Blood utilization and quality indicators at a university hospital in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

“…There are few studies from Saudi Arabia regarding blood bank utilization, and most include small sample sizes and short follow-up periods [2,[7][8][9][10]. A study on blood bank utilization conducted in our center between 1996 and 2000 showed an average C/T ratio of 2.96, which did not meet the international standards of less than 2, and over-ordering of blood products and cancellation of over 60% of transfusions [7,11].…”