Anemia via phlebotomy

Q: How much blood is usually wasted annually in the Western world due to unnecessary phlebotomy? - select one

A) 100 K Liter

B) 300 K Liter

C) 0.5 Million Liter

D) 1 Million Liter

E) 25 million liter 

Answer: E

Unnecessary blood draws (phlebotomy) in Western hospitals, particularly in the United States, remain up to a menacing level - which can't be explained by any means! Despite advanced technologies in laboratory machines, availability of more non-invasive tools/devices, and choice of using pediatric collection tubes, it is estimated that four times more blood is discarded after testing by laboratories than is transfused into patients! With current collection methods and the small amounts of blood or serum required by modern laboratory analyzers in the Western world alone, each 25 million liters of patients' blood is thrown into waste containers - see reference # 3.

Per day, blood loss in ΙСUs per patient is 30-40 mL/day.

#lab-science

References:

1. Fowler RA, Rizoli SB, Levin PD, Smith T. Blood conservation for critically ill patients. Crit Care Clin 2004; 20:313.

2. Matzek LJ, LeMahieu AM, Madde NR, et al. A Contemporary Analysis of Phlebotomy and Iatrogenic Anemia Development Throughout Hospitalization in Critically Ill Adults. Anesth Analg 2022; 135:501.

3. Levi M. Twenty-five million liters of blood into the sewer. J Thromb Haemost 2014; 12:1592.