title: Operating theater blood transaction system. A "virtual" blood transfusion service that brings the blood bank to the operating table.
abstract: We describe an operating theater blood transaction system (OTBTS) that is a novel computer software system incorporating electronic crossmatch and the concept of a "self-service" blood banking system in the operating theater. Through this system, the surgeons and the anesthetists can issue blood units for intraoperative transfusion for the patients with a negative antibody screen without the need for a porter service or pneumatic tube system. Since implementation of the OTBTS, the time for obtaining compatible blood for intraoperative transfusion has been reduced from 20 to 30 minutes to around 1 minute. Furthermore, the crossmatch-transfusion ratio was reduced to 1.05. The 23% of patients who required extra blood units (i.e., more than originally anticipated) during surgery further benefited from the system. The blood stock reserved for patients undergoing surgery was reduced by 20%. Therefore, the OTBTS is a system that can greatly enhance the efficiency and safety of intraoperative transfusion and can also save workforce resources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.forename: F K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Mak
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kwan
mesh_terms: D001771:Blood Banks / Q000592:standards; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000379:methods; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000379:methods*; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*