title: Changes in red-cell transfusion practice in a tertiary care hospital during the 1990s--a 7-year study.
abstract: Use of red cells for transfusion in a tertiary care hospital has been studied over a 7-year period from 1990-1991 to 1996-1997. In this time, red-cell use has declined by 18% while new patients or admissions to programmes in oncology, trauma or cardiac bypass surgery have increased by 57%, 66% and 73%, respectively. This reduction in red-cell transfusion has been achieved by a combination of less patients (proportionately) receiving red cells and less red cells being transfused to individual recipients. When the trends are analysed for red-cell use in four elective surgical procedures there is a significant reduction in both the proportion of patients transfused and the mean number of units used per patient undergoing the procedure. Autologous presurgical blood deposit met about 45% of the blood requirement for those four procedures. A similar decreasing trend in units per patient and proportion of patients transfused red cells was seen for 'first-time' coronary artery bypass surgery. The question arises as to how far this trend may go before adverse effects of undertransfusion become apparent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sunnybrook, Health Science Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Pinkerton
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tasev
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Coovadia
mesh_terms: D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001771:Blood Banks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002170:Canada; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data