American journal of clinical pathology
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Am. J. Clin. Pathol. · Oct 1999
Operating theater blood transaction system. A "virtual" blood transfusion service that brings the blood bank to the operating table.
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. ⋯ 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.