[Histonet] Re: Bone Flap from Skull

[Robert Richmond]

>>A neurosurgeon just brought a bone flap from a patient and wants to replace it 3-4 days from now... Do any of you have suggestions or recommendations for storing the bone flap in the lab until he needs it again???<<

This is a problem that needs to be dumped on the pathologist's desk
immediately. This is a "bone bank" problem - somebody up there
suddenly decides that the pathology department is responsible for
storing bone to be grafted into other patients by orthopedic surgeons
- no testing for infectious agents, no records kept.

Pathology departments are not equipped to handle sterile materials,
nor to maintain patient records other than pathology reports. A
conference between pathology, neurosurgery, and orthopedics is needed,
perhaps urgently.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN