Cutting Costs and Carbon: Re-evaluating Routine Group and Save Testing for Appendicectomies

Routine preoperative G&S testing for appendicectomy provides negligible clinical benefit while incurring measurable financial and environmental costs. Elevated inflammatory markers, higher ASA grades, and older age were predictive of complicated disease, supporting a selective, risk-based testing strategy. Restricting G&S to higher-risk patients could maintain safety, enhance efficiency, and contribute to National Health Service (NHS) sustainability goals.