Abstract

 Background and Objectives

 Blood reservation is done in many surgical operations because of the risk of bleeding. However, reservation should be based on a standard protocol so as to prevent blood loss. In this study, we deal with the ratio and causes of unused blood ordered from blood bank in elective surgeries in Rasoul-e-Akram hospital in Tehran.

 Materials and Methods

 In this descriptive study, a questionnaire was added to file records of patients who were candidates for elective surgery in Rasoul-e Akram Hospital during 2005. Questionnaires were filled out by the physicians who had ordered blood after patients' discharge these questionnaires were ultimately sent to blood transfusion committee. The collected data were then analyzed using descriptive statistic methods and SPSS version11.5.

 Results

 The total number of reserved blood bags for elective surgeries was 8385 in one year out of which 1460 (17/4%) were transfused. The ratio of transfused cross-matched blood was 3.12 the major reason for ordered blood not to be used was incorrect surgical team estimation (44.6%).

 Conclusions

 This study revealed that blood reservation is not performed based on any definite protocol and it is necessary to control the reservation and use of blood both qualitatively and quantitatively in medical centers.

 Key words: Blood Grouping and Cross matching, surgery, Blood Banks