Routine postoperative laboratory testing may be unnecessary in some gynecological patients, according to two abstracts presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO’s) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer (March 19-22, San Diego). The first study found that the likelihood of detecting postoperative laboratory abnormalities is low in asymptomatic patients following robotic hysterectomies in endometrial cancer patients. The researchers, led by Josephine Kim, M.D., an obstetrics fellow from the University of Chicago in Illinois, suggest that routine laboratory tests in asymptomatic patients following uncomplicated surgery may be unwarranted. The researchers identified 380 patients without comorbidities who underwent uncomplicated surgery. The patients had a median age of 62 years, median body mass index of 32, and median length of stay of one day. All patients had at least one postoperative complete blood count. While 54 percent of patients had abnormal postoperative hemoglobin values, only one patient (0.5 percent) required a blood transfusion for symptomatic anemia. Similarly, 54 percent of patients had abnormal postoperative white blood cell counts, but only two patients (1 percent) required intervention, both for symptomatic urinary tract infections. Results of complete blood counts alone prompted no intervention in asymptomatic patients. On the first postoperative day, the vast majority of […]