Approximately one-third of surgical NEC cases in our system occurred after a transfusion. We speculate that a target area for reducing the prevalence of posttransfusion NEC involves feeding practices immediately before and during RBC transfusion.

The reference interval for TSH varies significantly by age, sex, hour of day, and ethnicity. Time of year does not affect the TSH reference interval, and age, sex, hour of day and time of year do not affect the free T4 reference interval.

Implementing a systemwide NICU program to improve compliance with already-established transfusion guidelines increased compliance from 65% to 90%. Improved compliance with transfusion guidelines was accompanied by a significant reduction in transfusions given, with no increase in NICU length of stay or mortality rate.