title: Morning admission for a same-day surgical procedure: resolution of a blood bank problem.
abstract: To minimize the risks associated with an elective surgical procedure on the day of admission without adequate time for blood bank serologic analysis, we implemented two administrative changes: (1) collection of blood samples from patients on the evening before operation and (2) a system for recommending a 3-hour delay of the operation in those cases without such a sample. During a 4-month period before implementation of these changes, 70 patients had serologic problems; morning blood samples had been obtained from 36 of these patients. For a comparable time after implementation of these changes, a serologic problem was encountered in 41 surgical cases, in 7 of which morning blood samples had been obtained. Similarly, the number of cases in which the operation was begun before resolution of a serologic problem decreased from 19 to 3. These decreases occurred despite a 13.4% increase in total morning-admission cases between the first and second study periods. Although no patient experienced adverse transfusion-related events during either study period, simple administrative changes that necessitated no increases in costs were instrumental in substantially decreasing the risks to patients.
authors.affiliation: Blood Bank and Transfusion Services, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Reisner
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Offord
mesh_terms: D001771:Blood Banks / Q000458:organization & administration; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D006801:Humans; D010343:Patient Admission; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D013997:Time Factors