pre-op blood tests for hip replacement -any medical professionals out there?

[shrub]

my dm was due to go in for a hip replacement tomorrow. a medical secretary telephoned this morning to cancel because there is a 'problem' with her pre-op blood tests though didn't know why. The surgeon won't be available until wednesday to discuss what the problem is so my poor dm is terrified. could anyone give me any examples of what it could be to stop the op at such a late stage?

it could be any number of simple things, so don't worry

e.g.- she could be a bit anaemic- as you can lose a fair amount of blood in a hip replacement, it might be an idea to correct this before an operation

-her "electrolytes", sodium and potassium levels may be slightly out of balance; this can happen especially if a person is on tablets for blood pressure, such as diuretics. Changing the tablet or adding something else will sort that out

-her white cell count may be elevated, which is a sign of an infection somewhere in the body- it's not a good idea to operate in this situation as the new hip may become infected

• she may have a rare blood group and blood may not be available for the op

The whole point of doing these tests in advance is to pick up problems before the patient is admitted to hospital, to save them the disappointment of being cancelled at the very last minute. In addition, it means that the empty space on the operating list can be filled, which wouldn't be possible if there were just hours to spare.

HTH

tissy = thank you so much for taking the time to reply. i shall pass on the info to dm so it will hopefully put her mind at ease.
thanks again.