— ClearFlow Executive Comments on Possible Solutions to Hospital Acquired Infections —

Anaheim, CA – April 6, 2016—Cardiac anesthesia investigators from Germany presented data revealing the role retained blood plays in hospital acquired infections after heart surgery this week at the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) 2016 Annual Meeting and Workshops in San Diego, CA.

Critical care specialists from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin’s Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine presented clinical data from 6,909 patients undergoing heart surgery. Results from the data revealed that more than 19% of the patients studied required surgical reinterventions to deal with complications related to Retained Blood Syndrome (RBS). Patients who required reinterventions were reported to have a statistically significant increase in infections during recovery.

In addition, patients with RBS had an increase in mortality, longer ICU and hospital stays as well as higher incidence of hemodialysis and longer ventilator time, complicating their post-operative recovery.

“The clogging of chest tubes used to evacuate blood around the heart and lungs is all too common, contributing to 1 in 5 patients requiring subsequent re-operations or interventions to remove retained blood, blood clots or bloody fluid from around the heart and lungs during recovery,” said Ed Boyle, M.D., the founder and chairman of ClearFlow, Inc. ClearFlow, a medical device company based in Anaheim, CA, is the manufacturer of the innovative PleuraFlow® Active Clearance Technology® System – the only FDA cleared device available that enables caregivers to proactively keep chest drainage tubes clear of blood clots and minimizes the occurrence of Retained Blood Syndrome after heart surgery. “This study confirms the association of RBS with increased postoperative hospital acquired infections.”

“This significant clinical study underscores a clear unmet need for patients recovering from heart surgery,” added ClearFlow’s CEO, Paul Molloy. “Programs to reduce retained blood as an additional strategy to reduce postoperative infections could reduce the number of complications dramatically. Hospitals today are saddled with the burden of extensive cost increases due to lack of consistent protocols regarding chest tube clearance after cardiac surgery and the unacceptable failure rates of current available drains. This new data emphasizes that RBS additionally impacts the incidence of infection, further supporting the need to prevent RBS. Our pioneering PleuraFlow System, an easy to use medical device, has been shown to significantly lower RBS and expensive hospital complications.”

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.

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Paul Williams
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paul@medialinecommunications.com