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Introduction Patients scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy and laparoscopic appendicectomy typically undergo routine preoperative blood grouping and saving (G&S). Despite the low incidence of blood transfusion in this context, the acquisition and processing of G&S samples incur a cost of £31 (40) per sample. This study aims to review blood transfusion usage in these procedures to determine whether routine G&S sampling is clinically necessary or represents an avoidable expense. Methods A retrospective case note analysis was conducted on patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy and laparoscopic appendicectomy from January 2019 to June 2020. Collected data included the timing of G&S, preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin levels, timing of blood transfusions, and the number of units transfused. Results Six hundred and thirteen patients were involved in the study. Among the 323 patients who had laparoscopic cholecystectomy, 256 (78. 8%) underwent preoperative G&S sampling. Of the 290 patients who had laparoscopic appendicectomy, 190 (65. 5%) received preoperative G&S sampling. Notably, none of the 613 patients required a blood transfusion within 30 days of their surgery. The total cost of G&S for the cohort amounted to £22, 196 (28, 425). Conclusions The findings suggest that routine G&S sampling is an unnecessary expenditure for patients undergoing elective laparoscopic appendicectomy or cholecystectomy. It is recommended that G&S sampling be reserved for high-risk groups to optimize resource allocation and reduce unnecessary costs.
Ramasamy et al. (Tue,) studied this question.