title: Efficiency of blood use and prospects for autologous transfusion in general surgery.
abstract: A 6-month retrospective audit of crossmatch and transfusion practice in a general surgical unit has been performed. Inefficiencies in blood ordering practices have been demonstrated and the value of performing a local audit to allow estimation of blood needs has been proven. Using criteria based on the suggested tariff for operations derived from this audit, only a small number of general surgical patients would be considered as potential autologous blood donors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Bangour General Hospital, Dechmont, West Lothian, Scotland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jaffray
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Basheer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gillon
mesh_terms: D001782:Blood Donors; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000379:methods*; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000592:standards*; D001804:Blood Transfusion, Autologous; D004526:Efficiency; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*