| Sub-title | |
| Authors | M Fiorentino, M Schembri |
| Abstract | Introduction: It is usual practice for house officers within the surgical department at our hospital to request routine pre-operative blood investigations in all patients undergoing elective surgery regardless of their medical fitness or ASA scoring. This audit assessed whether house officers were able to predict the outcome of blood investigations taken pre-operatively, and whether this prediction influenced the outcome of the surgery. It also assessed whether UK guidelines on the indications of preoperative blood investigations could be safely adopted in Malta. Methods: House officers within our firm were asked to request appropriate blood investigations only in patients who had any obvious clinical indication or were ASA grade more than two. A full blood count was taken in women of childbearing age and a heamoglucotest was performed in the admitting ward on all patients. However, if the UK guidelines suggested blood investigations, these were also requested. House officers were also asked to indicate the predicted result of these investigations. Results: 429 patients were operated by our surgical firm over one year. Data was collected for 266 (62%) patients, on whom 498 blood tests were requested. 454 blood results were correctly predicted as normal. 11 test results were predicted to be abnormal but were in fact normal. 18 blood tests were correctly predicted as abnormal, and 15 blood tests had incorrectly predicted abnormal results. No complications arose, and no surgical procedure was cancelled as a direct result of blood investigations that were not requested. Conclusions: House officers are able to correctly predict the result of preoperative blood investigations in the vast majority of cases. This can result in significant cost saving if pre-operative blood tests are only requested based on good clinical judgment. |
Published in: | |
| Journal | Malta Medical Journal |
| Volume | 18 Supplement |
| Page | |
| Date | 01/12/2006 |
| Link to journal | |
| Key words | house officers, investigation, medical education, predict results, pre-operative |