Accuracy of Estimated Blood Loss on Common Operating Room Items Among Medical Professionals.

Background: Hemostasis during surgery is a primary contributor to the patient's blood management. Accurate blood loss estimation from surgery can help teams with postoperative management. The goal of this study was to analyze the accuracy of medical workers' estimations of blood loss on different operating room items.

Methods: A survey was sent out to medical students, residents, and attendings in a single academic institution. The survey asked participants to estimate the amount of simulated blood from pictures of a laparotomy sponge (lap), Ray-Tec sponge, towel, and drape.

Results: There were 124 participants in the survey. All average estimations were greater than the actual amount of simulated blood on the operating room item. There was a statistically significant difference in estimations between students, residents, and attendings in all categories except Ray-Tec #1. The residents were closest in estimation in all categories; however, this was not statistically significant compared with attendings. When comparing the estimations of surgical and nonsurgical specialties, surgical specialties were the most accurate except for the estimation of laps.

Conclusions: All in all, our study found a substantial overestimation of blood on operating room items by residents, students, and attending physicians. Our study suggests that estimation of surgical blood loss by analysis of soaked Ray-Tec sponges, laps, drapes, and towels may be inaccurate.