IMPROVING THE APPROPRIATENESS OF RED-BLOOD-CELL TRANSFUSIONS IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING ORTHOPEDIC-SURGERY

Othopedic surgery is a common procedure among the elderly, and patient s are at risk of receiving unnecessary blood transfusions The goals of this project were to analyze current transfusion practices, identify opportunities for improvement, implement hospital-hared quality improv ement programs, and measure their impact on transfusion practices. Our aims were to decrease unnecessary transfusions and overall exposure t o blood products. Data were abstracted from medical records, at baseli ne and postintervention. The results demonstrated significant improvem ents: a 55% decrease in avoidable transfusion events (from 42% to 19%, p < .001) and a decrease in the pre-transfusion hematocrit from a bas eline of 29% to 26.9% in the postintervention period (p < .01). The pe rcentage of single unit transfusion events increased from 71.9% to 77. 2% (p = .05). These results suggest that the interventions had a signi ficant impact on the use of blood In the long term, these results shou ld translate into cost savings and improved patient outcomes.