A history-based assessment tool can more accurately and cost-effectively determine which patients face a higher risk of blood loss during major spinal surgery.

The tool, developed by a Cincinnati Children’s team, identifies patients who need more extensive pre-operative labs and workup. The researchers reported in the April 2017 issue of Thrombosis Research that better pre-operative screening includes a detailed questionnaire based on the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis Bleeding Assessment Tool (BAT), combined with evaluation of medical tests that characterize blood clotting and platelet count and function.

“This study indicates that a history-based bleeding assessment tool can be used to better predict which pediatric patients require more detailed pre-operative hemostatic system assessment, and which patients require no pre-operative labs whatsoever,” says Joseph Palumbo, MD, the study’s senior author. “This will decrease costs and improve care, as it can identify patients at a higher risk for bleeding.”

The research was led by Jennifer Anadio, clinical research manager, Orthopaedics; Peter Sturm, MD, Director of the Crawford Spine Center; and Palumbo, of the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute.

Citation: Anadio JM, Sturm PF, Forslund JM, Agarwal S, Lane A, Tarango C, Palumbo JS. A bleeding assessment tool correlates with intraoperative blood loss in children and adolescents undergoing major spinal surgery. Thromb Res. 2017 152:82-86. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28262568