Surgeon at Torrance hospital specializes in 'bloodless' procedures
by jj123jj123 6 Replies latest watchtower medical
-
-
OUTLAW
Surgeon at Torrence Hospital specializes in "Bloodless" procedures..
And..
None of his Patients have Complained..
......................
...OUTLAW -
Snoozy
We have a hospital that specializes in Bloodless surgery..I think it is a good thing but I'm not too crazy about the hospital itself.
Forest Park Hospital:
About Forest Park Hospital
Forest Park Hospital is a licensed 450-bed hospital conveniently located at Highway 40 and Hampton Avenue, near the Science Center. With more than 1,000 employees, Forest Park Hospital offers a complement of specialty services, ranging from family medicine and obstetrics to oncology, cardiology, physical rehabilitation, and bloodless medicine and surgery. Of particular importance are its programs focusing on older adults—a growing population whose special needs are addressed with in-depth expertise and compassionate care. Forest Park Hospital has served its community for more than 100 years.Snoozy..
ps..Thanks for the article!
Enjoyed the accompanying article on "Human Breast milk Ice Cream"..
-
blondie
I wonder if they use hemoglobin-based products because they are made with expired blood...not quite bloodless.
-
Snoozy
Cell Salvage in the Jehovah’s Witness Patient • Response
- Jonathan H. Waters , MD and
- Paul S. Potter , MD
+ Author Affiliations
- Department of General Anesthesiology Cleveland Clinic Foundation Cleveland, OH
We read with great interest the recent case report, published as a letter to the editor, titled, “Continuous autotransfusion in a Jehovah’s Witness undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting” (1). The authors make the claim that “conventional autotransfusion devices such as the Haemonetics Cell Saver [Munich, Germany] … are not accepted by all Jehovah’s Witness patients” because the blood is salvaged in batches. They then proceed to recommend continuous processing of blood via the CATS, manufactured by Fresenius AG (Bad Hamburg, Germany). The fashion in which this is written, leads the reader to believing that the only way to manage a Jehovah’s Witness patient is through the use of the Fresenius cell salvage machine. This statement is quite misleading.
The issue of cell salvage has been addressed in The Watchtower (2,3), which is the official voice of Jehovah’s Witnesses and in an information pamphlet (4) created by the society to address these issues. Most Jehovah’s Witnesses feel that the external tubing of a heart-lung bypass circuit, dialysis tubing, or cell salvage equipment is an extension of their own circulatory system, as long as a continuous circuit is maintained. Stasis of the blood or “processing in batches” is not the issue. A complete circulatory arrest does not dictate that the blood in a bypass pump would need to be discarded in the same way a patient with a myocardial infarction who has had a circulatory arrest would not need to empty himself of his own blood. Acceptance of either technology is left to the conscience of the individual as to whether he or she believes that the bypass pump or the cell salvage machine tubing is truly an extension of themselves. If the patient will not accept cell salvage, then they probably will not accept surgery with a bypass system.
In our institution, we have managed many Jehovah’s Witness patients with several different machines, including the Haemonetics Cell Saver 5, which processes blood in batches. The key to doing so is maintaining continuity with the patient. Not only do we perform cell salvage, but we also manage to perform perioperative apheresis with a continuous circuit setup for cardiac surgery (Figure 1). With this preparation, we are able to safely manage a Jehovah’s Witness patient through a surgical procedure in which 2–3 blood volumes are lost.
Figure 1. The figure shows how a continuous loop is maintained with the patient in order to perform cell salvage and apheresis for cardiac bypass surgery.
Neither of us are Jehovah’s Witnesses, nor do we profess to understand all of the nuances of being a Jehovah’s Witness; however, we have spoken with a local expert, Sharon Vernon, who is the Director of the Bloodless Medicine Institute in Cleveland, OH, a member of the board of directors for the National Association for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery, and a Jehovah’s Witness. She supports our position that movement of the blood is not an issue.
Managing the Jehovah’s Witness patients strikes fear into many anesthesiologists’ hearts. Candid discussion with the patient about blood alternatives is often facilitated by consultation with the patient preoperatively involving a lay liaison representative who is available at all Jehovah’s Witness churches or through Health Information Services, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, New York, NY. Through this interaction, misunderstandings can be avoided, leading to the safe conduct of an anesthetic for a Jehovah’s Witness patient, even when massive blood loss is expected.
References
- 8. ↵ Booke M, Schmidt C, Van Aken H, et al. Continuous autotransfusion in a Jehovah’s Witness undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Anesth Analg 1999; 89 : 262 –3. FREE Full Text
One of the things I remember was on Hubby's list was Hemodilution and Autologus..
I think possibly fractions were also allowed. It's been so long since we filled out all the paperwork..funny how little the 'Local" JW's really knew about what they could and couldn't take. They were all just programmed to say "NO BLOOD"..
Snoozy
-
Snoozy
Autotransfusion [ 1 ] is a process when a person receives their own blood for a transfusion, instead of banked donor blood. Blood can be pre-donated before a surgery, or can be collected during and after the surgery using a device commonly known as the Cell Saver. The Cell Saver is utilized in surgeries where there is expected a large volume blood loss. For example, aneurysm, total joint replacements and spinal surgeries. There are also small reservoir devices designed to collect the patients blood for return, such as the Orthopat and Constavacs.
This I can see they would probably reject..
Snoozy
-
Snoozy
autologous
[ôtol′?g?s] Etymology: Gk, autos + logos, ratio pertaining to a tissue or structure occurring naturally and derived from the same individual such as blood donated by a patient before surgery to be returned to the patient during or after surgery. Autologus was one that my JW hubby's sister said it was OK to do... Which I found surprising.. I don't think they really teach it is ok to save one's blood for a transfusion for a future surgery? Snoozy
