TY - JOUR A1 - Neef, Vanessa A1 - Meisenzahl, David A1 - Kessler, Paul A1 - Raimann, Florian A1 - Piekarski, Florian A1 - Choorapoikayil, Suma A1 - Fleege, Christoph A1 - Zacharowski, Kai A1 - Meybohm, Patrick A1 - Meurer, Andrea T1 - Implementation of an anaemia walk-in clinic: feasibility and preliminary data from the Orthopedic University Hospital T2 - Transfusion Medicine N2 - Background: Approximately one in three patients suffers from preoperative anaemia. Even though haemoglobin is measured before surgery, anaemia management is not implemented in every hospital. Objective: Here, we demonstrate the implementation of an anaemia walk-in clinic at an Orthopedic University Hospital. To improve the diagnosis of iron deficiency (ID), we examined whether reticulocyte haemoglobin (Ret-He) could be a useful additional parameter. Material and Methods: In August 2019, an anaemia walk-in clinic was established. Between September and December 2019, major orthopaedic surgical patients were screened for preoperative anaemia. The primary endpoint was the incidence of preoperative anaemia. Secondary endpoints included Ret-He level, red blood cell (RBC) transfusion rate, in-hospital length of stay and anaemia at hospital discharge. Results: A total of 104 patients were screened for anaemia. Preoperative anaemia rate was 20.6%. Intravenous iron was supplemented in 23 patients. Transfusion of RBC units per patient (1.7 ± 1.2 vs. 0.2 ± 0.9; p = 0.004) and hospital length of stay (13.1 ± 4.8 days vs. 10.6 ± 5.1 days; p = 0.068) was increased in anaemic patients compared to non-anaemic patients. Ret-He values were significantly lower in patients with ID anaemia (33.3 pg [28.6–40.2 pg]) compared to patients with ID (35.3 pg [28.9–38.6 pg]; p = 0.015) or patients without anaemia (35.4 pg [30.2–39.4 pg]; p = 0.001). Conclusion: Preoperative anaemia is common in orthopaedic patients. Our results proved the feasibility of an anaemia walk-in clinic to manage preoperative anaemia. Furthermore, our analysis supports the use of Ret-He as an additional parameter for the diagnosis of ID in surgical patients. KW - anaemia walk-in clinic KW - blood transfusion KW - iron deficiency KW - orthopaedic patients KW - patient blood management KW - reticulocyte haemoglobin Y1 - 2020 UR - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/63866 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-638668 SN - 1365-3148 N1 - Funding information: B. Braun Melsungen, CSL Behring, Fresenius Kabi, and Vifor Pharma; Pharmacosmos; Ferring; Vifor Pharma; Fresenius Kabi; CSL Behring; B. Braun Melsungen VL - 30 IS - 6 SP - 467 EP - 474 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Oxford [u.a.] ER -