Group & Save for Tonsilectomies ?????

[Eoin]

Hi Folks,

Can I get an idea of whetehr their is a requirement for Group, Screen & Save for tonsilectomies, Adenidectomies. After taking up my post here, we did a lookback & found no urgent crossmatches intra-op for Ts & As. We stooped Group & saving. Some push to have it re-introduced. Could I have an idea of who does and who does not perform any bloodbanking for them. An idea of the size of your Hospital would be helpful.

Thanks in advance

Eoin

[Mary**]

I have been in Blood Banking for 30 years, and have never done routine Blood Bank testing for T&As. It is a wast of insurance money. I would surprised if they didn't question that practice. My hospital is 325 beds.

[jhaig]

The only way someone would need blood for a tonsillectomy / adenoids is if the surgeon accidentally drops his scalpel down the patient's throat. Don't even bother with anything more than an ABO/Rh for these patients.

[David Saikin]

Ditto - 30+ yrs and I have never heard of this. 40 beds (but I've been in 700+ and a few 300-400 bed places too.

[Mabel Adams]

I have never seen any pre-op orders for BB on these surgeries. I have occasionally seen one go bad and even require emergency transfusion. These are always teenagers or adults. It has been many years since one went bad. I suspect they have better cautery tools than 25 yrs ago.

[Eoin]

Thanks for that Folks,

I knew what the answer would be.

Was just looking for ammunition to hurl at this clinician.

I have been in Bloodbanking for 40 years, and apart from a couple of bad bleeds at wound-breakdown, have never seen the need for anything else but what would I know, I'm just a Medical Scientist.

Regards to all and thanks again.

[John C. Staley]

You can add me to the list of old timers who have never even heard of such practice.

:eyepoppin

[Dr. Pepper]

Add me to the list as well. My daughter, 18 at the time, dropped from a 14 hgb to a 7 in a day and needed emergency surgery, but that was a week post-op when the scabs fall off. (Ironically, she's in her fourth year of med school now and applying for ENT residencies.) They don't go bad during surgery. If they do, your emergency release of group O policy should cover it.

[janet]

We have an ENT that does G&S on some cases and occasionally has us cross units....??he had a case go real bad?? - we sometimes to a VonWillebrand screen and when we were doing bleeding times his pre-op days were hell!

I come from a 360 bed hospital in Canada - we don't have insurance companies policing orders (sometimes I wish we did!!). We can bring 'inappropriate' orders to our medical director but his answer is usually "they are the attending doctor, they are taking responsibility" so it is rare an order gets changed and to be honest I've given up beating my head against the wall unless I have a huge issue (sorry, I'm venting!!)

[Packer Banker]

I have also seen post-op bleeds, but as stated, they are in teen/adult cases and a few days to a week out.

[PaulSunV]

You can add me to the list of those who have never even heard of this type of practice.

[AMcCord]

My institution is 180 beds and we've not been doing anything routinely for the almost 30 years I've been here.

I did have to meet the demands of an extremely nervous mother once and draw an autologous unit on her 10 year old - mom was sure that the kid would need blood and then get AIDS . The doc 'educated' her until he was blue in the face but couldn't budge her. Thank heavens the kid was big AND mature for his age so the auto draw didn't traumatize us all!