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Routine pre‐operative blood testing: is it necessary?
Author(s) -
Johnson R. K.,
Mortimer A. J.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2044.2002.02750.x
Subject(s) - medicine , surgery , pound (networking) , audit , elective surgery , prospective cohort study , anesthesia , management , world wide web , computer science , economics
Summary In order to determine the value of routine pre‐operative screening investigations, the medical notes of 100 patients undergoing elective surgical procedures under general anaesthesia were subject to prospective audit. Pre‐operative screening investigations (full blood count, urea and electrolytes and random glucose) were analysed in terms of frequency of abnormalities and whether or not the peri‐operative management was changed when the result was abnormal. The frequency of results being present in the note at the time of operation and the costing of the tests was also examined. Atotal of 773 tests was performed of which 70 (9.1%) were abnormal. Peri‐operative management was altered as a result of only two abnormal results (0.2%). Eight complications arose, none of which could have been predicted by the pre‐operative screening tests. In only 57% of cases were the results present in the medical notes at the time of surgery. It is conservatively estimated that a saving of £50 000 per year could be made in our hospital alone by selective ordering of tests.