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. 2021 Feb 10;45(3):37.
doi: 10.1007/s10916-021-01719-6.

Perioperative Cryoprecipitate Waste Reduction

Camden Burk  1 , Kent Eliason  2 , Allison Doney  1 , Jeremi Mountjoy  1 , Adam A Dalia  3
Affiliations

Perioperative Cryoprecipitate Waste Reduction

Camden Burk et al. J Med Syst. .

Abstract

Improvement of operating room efficiency regarding perioperative blood product transfusion is fundamental for surgical patients. The aim of this study was to 1) assess the use of cryoprecipitate in the operating room at our institution 2) identify and address gaps in knowledge regarding the process of ordering and returning cryoprecipitate 3) aim to reduce cryoprecipitate wastage by 50% over a 14-month period. Institutional data from Dec. 2017 to April 2020 was retrieved on cryoprecipitate that was ordered, thawed, and delivered to the operating room. Additionally, data was collected regarding cryoprecipitate that was wasted. A retrospective analysis of weekly intraoperative cryoprecipitate utilization was performed to compare wastage before and after implementation of interventions. Pre-intervention (Dec 2017 - March 2019), a total of 453 units of cryoprecipitate were issued with 14 units wasted (3% wastage). Between March 2019 and April 2020, the 14 months after our intervention, there were 402 units of cryoprecipitate issued with only 1 unit wasted (0.25% wastage). The overall cryoprecipitate waste rate was reduced by 91.66%. Month-to-month comparison of pre-intervention and post-intervention data identified significant reduction in average monthly wastage (0.875 vs 0.071 units respectively, p < 0.05). Appropriately, there was not a significant change in the mean monthly cryoprecipitate issued to the operating room (28.31 vs. 28.7 units, p = 0.94). These results demonstrate that utilizing educational initiatives for optimization of blood product management can reduce unnecessary ordering, transfusions, and wastage; an outcome that could ultimately reduce costs.

Keywords: Blood transfusion; Operating Room efficiency; Quality improvement; Waste Reduction.

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Conflict of interest statement

None relevant to this work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Cryoprecipitate Utilization Survey
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Departmental Online Educational Content
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Picture of Departmental Online Educational Content
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Stacked column chart demonstrating units of cryoprecipitate issued monthly (blue) compared to units wasted each month (orange). Black line denotes separation between pre and post- intervention data
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Cryoprecipitate wastage from December 2017–March 2019 (pre-intervention) compared to March 2019–April 2020 (post-intervention), columns represent the percentage of cryoprecipitate wastage during each time period
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Comparison of the average cryoprecipitate usage during the pre-intervention versus post-intervention periods. Columns represent mean monthly values. *designates significant findings (P < 0.05)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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