Report: Increased Stays in ICU Related to Retained Blood Syndrome After Cardiac Surgery
Anaheim, CA – May 11, 2015— ClearFlow, Inc., a medical device company based in Anaheim, California, announced today that cardiac critical care investigators presented data last week at the 62nd annual German Anesthesia Congress (DAC 2015) in Düsseldorf, Germany about outcomes in patients who develop Retained Blood Syndrome (RBS) from incomplete blood evacuation after cardiac surgery.
Cardiac Anesthesia specialists from Charité University Hospital Berlin’s Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine reported data showing that patients who developed RBS took longer to wean from the ventilator after surgery, stayed in the ICU longer (increase of 10 days), had longer hospital lengths of stay and suffered increased mortality. The clinical data was obtained from an extensive study of almost 7,000 patients recovering from heart surgery.
“This study emphasizes the extensive additional critical care resource utilization required for patients with Retained Blood Syndrome after cardiac surgery,” said Ed Boyle, M.D., the founder and chairman of ClearFlow, Inc. “It also clearly demonstrates that despite the additional ICU resources that are required for reinterventions to treat complications, patient outcomes are worse.”
ClearFlow, a medical device company based in Anaheim, California, is the manufacturer of the innovative PleuraFlow® Active Clearance Technology® System – a novel technology that enables caregivers to proactively keep chest drainage tubes clear of blood clots and minimizes the occurrence of Retained Blood Syndrome after heart surgery.
“The economic burden of Retained Blood Syndrome compounds the awful clinical outcomes associated with inadequate chest drainage. It is time for hospitals to address basic root causes of these events,” added ClearFlow’s CEO, Paul Molloy. “This latest data demonstrates that there is a pressing need for hospitals to institute formal post-surgical chest drainage protocols to protect chest drain function as part of their Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Programs to prevent retained blood in the chest after surgery.”
The PleuraFlow Active Clearance Technology System is approved for use in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and other countries in Asia and the Middle East.
About ClearFlow, Inc.
ClearFlow, Inc. is an Anaheim, CA based medical device company that has developed a patented active blood and fluid evacuation system to speed recovery, reduce complications and lower healthcare costs related to medical tube obstruction. The company has been awarded several prestigious awards, including the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons Techno-College Innovation Award for worldwide innovation that has the potential to change the standard of care in heart and lung surgery, and the Innovations in Cardiovascular Interventions Award, among others.
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PleuraFlow and Active Clearance Technology are registered trademarks of ClearFlow, Inc.
Media Contact:
Paul Williams
310/569-0023
paul@medialinecommunications.com