Calculating Blood Loss for Surgery

by Jacqueline Jarmolych

Submitted : Fall 2018

The nature of this project is to estimate the blood loss during a common procedure and to determine if that particular patient would need to undergo a post-operative blood transfusion. It is known that blood loss from surgeries are commonly underestimated – more so than not. This lack of blood can lead to anemia, post-operative complications and extended recovery time, among others.  A simple derived method of common calculation is shown, comparing it to a more accurate calculation. Logarithmic functions and decay equations were both used. From these results, it was determined that a particular patient may not need a blood transfusion following a total knee arthroscopy and will end the surgery losing about 2,554 mL of blood with a 32.5 hematocrit level.

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