Draft NICE guidance, recently published, has shown that a well-validated technology could save the NHS £850 million per year in England alone.
The official guidance states that oesophageal Doppler monitoring (ODM), which measures blood flow during surgery, also reduces average length of hospital stay by two days per patient, results in fewer complications, reduces use of critical care facilities and results in fewer hospital readmissions. With at least 801,000 relevant operations a year in England, the NICE Medical Technology Advisory Committee (MTAC) guidance means that adoption of this technology could potentially save the NHS more than 1.6 million bed days. According to data from the National Technology Adoption Centre, CardioQ-ODM is suitable for use in general, vascular, urology and renal, orthopaedic and gynaecological surgery. ODM accurately measures changes in blood-flow during surgery through the insertion of an ultrasound probe into the oesophagus. The innovative approach, which is less invasive than other methods, allows clinical teams to optimise blood circulation in order to maintain adequate oxygen supplies to vital tissue and organs.
