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Wyckoff Hospital Expands Its Bloodless Medicine Program
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index...d=19&aid=52195#
Wyckoff Hospital Expands Its Bloodless Medicine Program
July 18, 2005
A Brooklyn hospital expands its medical program to meet the special needs of one of the borough's larger religious communities. NY1's Kafi Drexel filed this report.
What makes one routine thyroid surgery slightly different is that the surgical team has agreed to operate without use of a blood transfusion, even in the case of extreme blood loss.
“There is always the possibility that something could be done to cause the patient to bleed a little bit more than anticipated,” says Sandra Gilmore, the Medical Coordinator for Wyckoff Heights Medical Center. “That patient made it known to his surgeon prior to going into the operating room that if that was the case, that he wanted them to do whatever else was possible other than giving him any type of donor blood.”
It's a practice called bloodless medicine that's been around for years. But doctors at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center have introduced what they describe as a more concentrated bloodless program to appeal to Brooklyn's large population of Jehovah's Witnesses, who don't believe in taking transfusions for religious reasons.
They say it's their fastest growing program, with at least 8 out of every 10 patients they see a day now being a Jehovah's Witness.
Patients like Guadalupe Palacious say it's been a relief after being in and out of hospitals that seemed resistant to treatment based on her religious beliefs.
“I feel much better, even though my condition's still [there], but I feel much better in their hands because I know what they are doing and they agree to respect me as a patient,” she says.
For patients refusing transfusions, and therefore wanting to avoid any excessive loss of their own blood, there are certain procedures in place. Those include micro-sampling, where hemoglobin levels are checked with a single finger prick rather than taking two to three tubes of blood.
Before surgery, doctor's make sure patient's blood counts are as high as possible to minimize risks in case of major blood loss. And in some cases, a cell-saver is used that will clean a patient's blood and restore it for use during surgery.
Doctors involved in the bloodless program say they believe it's safer medicine. They say they're also starting to see more patients request treatments options without blood for non-religious reasons as well.
“It is our philosophy that regardless of whether patients belong to the faith or don't, we believe that one should make an effort to make sure patients don't get blood transfusions unnecessarily,” says Dr. Vijay Mattoo.
Doctors still caution that in some life-and-death cases, blood transfusions are the best course of action. But at Wyckoff, and in most hospitals, because of legal reasons, if a patient opts for bloodless medicine, they say they will respect their wishes no matter what.
Because Wyckoff is a teaching hospital, they plan on expanding their educational program, not just teaching the doctors there how to administer bloodless services, but also to doctors from all over the world.
Kafi Drexel
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Mr. Jan B. Wade
Blood Management Consultant
Enhance Outcomes - Control Cost
For Information Call - 360 296-1807
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