title: Assessing blood loss in cleft lip and palate surgery.
abstract: A method of continuously assessing peroperative blood loss is presented. A calibrated trap which collects all the blood loss is placed in the suction tubing. Bipolar diathermy and suction maintain a bloodless wound. A test using 20 ml of fresh venous blood showed that approximately 5 ml remained clotted in the tubing and 15 ml entered the trap. The method is particularly applicable to cleft lip and palate surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Leicester Royal Infirmary.
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Herbert
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eastley
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Milward
mesh_terms: D001810:Blood Volume; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000601:surgery*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000601:surgery*; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications; D008722:Methods