Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCThis patient population is affected by complex metabolic, respiratory and cardiovascular pathophysiological processes which predispose this patient population to the adverse consequences of anemia such as the potential risk of myocardial infarction and death. It is also possible that critically ill patients are at increased risks of adverse consequences from allogeneic red cell transfusions, particularly the immunosuppressive [11][12][13][14][15][16] 20 . In this article, the background outlining the divergent risks and benefits of anemia and transfusion will be discussed. Studies describing the epidemiology of anemia and current transfusion practices will also be outlined.
Transfusion practice variation in critical careTwo observational studies, a survey of critical care physicians and a large cohort study, were conducted to determine individual and hospital practice variation. In a 1993 Canadian survey of critical care practitioners 27 , we documented that 35% of respondents identified 90 g/L as minimum concentration and an additional 40% selected 100 g/L. Overall baseline transfusion thresholds ranged from a low of 50 g/L to 120 g/L. Thresholds were significantly different (p<0.001) between scenarios ( Figure 1). All clinical characteristics evaluated, except congestive heart failure (p>0.05), significantly (p< 0.0001) changed transfusion thresholds of Canadian critical care practitioners. We also noted significant difference among the four clinical scenarios and a number of potential risk factors. There was a significant association between having an academic affiliation and transfusion practice across all scenarios ( p<0.0001). Physicians with an academic affiliation transfused red cells at a lower transfusion threshold than non-academics. When grouped into 4 major geographic locations (West, Ontario, Quebec, East), with no more than 5 academic centers per region, we noted that there was a statistically significant difference (p<0.01) for baseline transfusion thresholds across all scenarios. In a second study we examined the transfusion practice in a cohort of 5298 consecutive patients treated in six tertiary level intensive care units. Twenty-five percent of the critically ill patients in the cohort study received red cell transfusions. The overall number of transfusions per patient-day in the ICU averaged 0.95±1.39 and ranged from 0.82±1.69 to 1.08±1.27 between institutions (p<0.001). The number of transfusions administered were significantly different between institutions even after multivariate adjustments for age, APACHE II score and within four diagnostic categories (cardiovascular disease, respiratory failure, major surgery and trauma) (p<0.0001). A similar analysis using nadir hemoglobin concentrations, the lowest hemoglobin value prior to the first transfusion or the lowest value recorded during the entire ICU stay also demonstrated that there is significant institutional practice variation (p<0.0001) (Figure 2). Further evaluation of transfusion practice using...