Anemia and Blood Transfusion in Critically Ill Patients

Abstract

This multicenter observational study reveals the common occurrence of anemia and the large use of blood transfusion in critically ill patients. Additionally, this epidemiologic study provides evidence of an association between transfusions and diminished organ function as well as between transfusions and mortality.

Anemia and blood transfusion in a surgical intensive care unit

“…Indeed, transfused patients in our study had higher ICU and in-hospital mortality rates; however, after adjustment for possible confounders and severity of illness, blood transfusion was associated with a lower risk of in-hospital death. The discrepancy between our results and those of previous observational studies [1,3] may be related to the implementation of leukoreduction in our institution. Hébert and colleagues [15] reported reduced in-hospital mortality rates after implementation of leukoreduction in a large Canadian multicenter study compared with the control period.…”

Blood Usage in an Australian Intensive Care Unit: Have We Met Best Practice Goals?

“…Our findings differ from those of the ABC investigators in Europe, who reported a significantly higher ICU and 28-day mortality in patients who received RCC transfusion, after mathematical correction for degree of organ dysfunction, excepting patients with the most severe organ dysfunction 3 . In addition, these authors reported a dose-response relationship between RCC units transfused and mortality, with the highest mortality in those receiving the most RCC units 3 . After attempted statistical correction for patients' admission characteristics, RCC transfusion was associated with an increased the risk of death (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.02-1.85).…”

A descriptive study of routine laboratory testing in intensive care unit in nearly 140,000 patient stays

“…Our data also showed that patient severity (as measured by the APACHE score) increased with the number of tests performed (Table 4). This finding is consistent with the study by Baron et al 14 , who reported a significant positive correlation between organ dysfunction and the number of blood withdrawals (r = 0.34; P < 0.001) and total volume withdrawn in critically ill patients (r = 0.28; P < 0.001). The number of laboratory tests was associated with hospital teaching status in our study.…”