In anticipation of starting a "Bloodless Surgery" program in my institution I have recently implemented the use of the OrthoPAT System for orthopedic surgery, one of our largest surgical specialties. Is anyone using this and if so what are your QA parameters, the policy of using it postoperatively on the floors and the Blood Banks acceptance of the use of it?

Hello Gail,

The company I work for handles OrthoPAT for the states of New York and New Jersey. They are very familiar with its use in connection with a blood conservation program. We can help you understand the benefits of using OrthoPAT vs. a more comprehensive cell salvage system. Tony Piskitti can facilitate your request for information - http://www.noblood.org/forum/member.php?u=191

Please contact me with any questions etc.

janbwade@comcast.net
jwade@trinitas.net

__________________
Mr. Jan B. Wade
Blood Management Consultant
Enhance Outcomes - Control Cost
For Information Call - 360 296-1807
Email

I would look at thism carefully. using this at ocean medical center, started before implementation of bms
not sure of it real benefit compared to high expense
Damon keeley at hemoconcepts has a good bead on the data

daniel T burzon,md
bms @omc

Actually it is more cost effective than bringing in cell saver, paying for PAD and then using an autovac drain.

Gail,
Do you have some stats on this? We never implemented because of the costliness of the disposables, but maybe with updated data, we can pursue it again.

Gail: I would also like some stats on the Orthopat if possible. We may look more into here as well. WQ

We have been using the OrthoPAT for several years now. We started using it when disposibles were quite cheap and haven't really have major price increases since. I have heard some are paying up to $600.00 per disposible. If you are planning on using the OrthoPAT mainly on those who have religious restrictions on blood, OK. We use it on all patients have total knees and hips. If anyone is looking for a cheaper way to accomplish the same thing, perhaps you could look up "CellTrans" Their website is www.summit-medical.co.uk They were just approved for use in the U.S. as of June 04. Cost is about $225-$275 per case.

Gail: Here at our facility, we used a very good development company in starting our BMSP. You may contact them if you like. They are very good at assisting hospitals with setting up bloodless programs. The name of the company is Bloodless Healthcare Development, Inc. The contact person is Dan Friedman and the contact number is: 805-489-7621. They really show concern and care for you when starting a program. Even after we started our program, the company still calls often to check on us. Let me know how it goes. WQ

At our institution, we tried orthopat-our experience was not a positive one.
We did not have good support from our rep. Our first patient ended up having her salvaged blood wasted.
We have perfusionists that run the cell savage in OR and found Orthopat to be too costly. Also we found that few of our orthopedic surgeons use drains. Make sure you have good inservicing and support from your rep.

However if you are using cell saver perfusionists and then an autovac drain plus autologous blood you are spending over $1500/case instead of $600.00