Earlier this spring, Karmina Martinez of Phoenix, Ariz., desperately called hospitals around the country, hoping that one would accept her 14-year-old daughter Jesmina, who needed a large, painful ovarian mass removed. <\/p>\n
CARMINE GALASSO \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER <\/p>\n
Dr. Aryeh Shander and Sherri Ozawa have helped advance bloodless medicine and surgery at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. <\/p>\n
None would admit her. The reason? <\/p>\n
Jesmina and her family are Jehovah's Witnesses, a religious group whose members, some 1 million strong in the U.S., cannot accept blood transfusions, and there was a chance that Jesmina, at least according to the family's local hospital, might need a transfusion during surgery. <\/p>\n
Karmina kept dialing. Finally she reached Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, specifically its 19-year-old Institute for Patient Blood Management and Bloodless Surgery, which agreed to treat her daughter. <\/p>\n
\"It meant so much you can't imagine,\" Karmina confided. \"We prayed so much to find a way not to go against God's commandments. When we found the Institute, we collapsed crying.\" A few weeks after Jesmina underwent \"bloodless\" surgery in Englewood, the teen attended her junior high school graduation. <\/p>\n
As data mount showing that blood transfusions are not only costly (on average, $1,200), have higher rates of complications (e.g., allergic reactions and other worrisome immune responses) and, according to Dr. Aryeh Shander, a clinical professor of anesthesiology at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and executive medical director of Englewood's bloodless program, aren't necessary \"40 to 60 percent of the time,\" a growing number of doctors today argue that bloodless techniques should be brought into mainstream medicine. <\/p>\n
A 2012 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine study published in the journal Anesthesiology found that doctors vary dramatically in deciding when a blood transfusion should be ordered. According to Dr. Steven Frank, leader of the study, many doctors are ordering blood transfusions prematurely or unnecessarily. \"Anytime there is such a large variation in a practice, there's probably room for improvement,\" he said. \"There's more overuse of transfusions than underuse.\" <\/p>\n
Indeed, at last October's annual American Medical Association conference, a group that convened to discuss improving health-care practices and procedures determined that blood transfusions are one of the top five overused medical treatments. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Go here to read the rest: <\/p>\n
Bloodless Medicine safer and more cost effective for all, experts say<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Earlier this spring, Karmina Martinez of Phoenix, Ariz., desperately called hospitals around the country, hoping that one would accept her 14-year-old daughter Jesmina, who needed a large, painful ovarian mass removed. CARMINE GALASSO \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Dr Continue reading