Published on October 3, 2023
Ahmedabad: Authorities at Civil Hospital faced challenges in securing blood clotting factors for two patients with haemophilia who were to undergo surgery. While one patient had to wait for over a month, the other has had to wait for more than a fortnight. Hospital authorities said that one of these surgeries has been carried out, and the other will take place in a couple of days.
Dr Rakesh Joshi, medical superintendent of Civil Hospital, said a youth from Jamnagar had been admitted with a fracture. “The patient needs 42,000 units of blood clotting factors and we did not have adequate stock. We asked the state health department and private players for help. On Monday, we received 50,000 units from SSG Hospital in Vadodara. The surgery will now take place on either Wednesday or Thursday,” he said. Experts said haemophilia is a condition where the blood doesn’t clot, and any blood loss can prove life-threatening or fatal. Blood factors help with clotting, they said. Haematologists said the patient will be administered 6,000 units before the surgery, 6,000 during the procedure and another 6,000 units after it each day for five days, for a total of 42,000 units.
Dr Joshi said that the hospital has treated 20-odd patients with haemophilia in the recent past. “Most of these cases can be treated with 1,000-2,000 units. In extreme cases, we need large quantities of clotting factors, and without a secure stock, surgery cannot be taken up,” he said.
Activists in the state had raised the issue of the shortage of blood clotting factors with the health department.
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