Reducing Blood Loss by Changing to Small Volume Tubes for Laboratory Testing.

Objective: To reduce diagnostic blood loss by using small volume tubes for routine laboratory testing throughout the hospital, as blood loss from laboratory testing can be substantial for patients and may lead to hospital-acquired anemia.

Patients And Methods: Diagnostic blood loss was evaluated in hospitalized patients between April 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018. The preintervention, during intervention, and postintervention mean diagnostic blood loss per hospitalized patient was compared across the floors and for each type of tube for hematology, basic metabolic panel, and coagulation tests.

Glucose meters and opportunities for in-hospital transmission of infection: Quantitative assessment and management with and without patient assignment.

Background: Increasing use of glucose meters in hospitals has increased opportunities for infection transmission that have not been quantitatively assessed or managed.

Methods: Before-and-after study of the effects of augmentation of glucose meter inventory and of assignment of glucose meters to individual patients on the sequential use of glucose meters on different patients in a 214-bed hospital.

Results: During October 2008, 11,665 measurements were performed using 38 glucose meters on 803 patients.

Platelet count is a sensitive predictor of autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell collection yield in previously treated plasma cell disease patients.

Background: It is often a clinical dilemma to determine when to collect autologous peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) in patients who received prior chemotherapy. It is also challenging to predict if the collected cells will be enough for one or two transplants.

Study Design And Methods: A total of 103 PBPC donors were followed to evaluate factors that predict poor autologous PBPC collection.