LISS--an effective way to increase blood utilization.
The low ionic strength solution (LISS) of Low and Messeter was compared with both the automated low ionic strength Polybrene and the manual IDAT techniques. A five minute incubation with the LISS was sufficient to detect all significant antibodies. By extending the incubation period to 15 minutes it was possible to increase the sensitivity of the reaction (as measured by titer) beyond that of either of the other methods. This LISS procedure has enabled us to greatly extend the applications of a "standby procedure" for elective surgery. In this procedure routine crossmatching is not done. Rather, the blood is placed on standby and if required, transfusion is provided by using the LISS. In one general hospital this resulted in the reduction by 1,600 units of unneccessary crossmatches and an increase of 10% in the total blood utilization rate over a nine-month period.
D000906:Antibodies / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003298:Coombs Test; D006801:Humans; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D013997:Time Factors
D000906:Antibodies