title: Duration of red blood cells storage and outcome in critically ill patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is conflicting evidence on the effect of red blood cells (RBC) storage duration and clinical outcomes. We aimed to investigate the association between RBC storage duration and clinical outcomes in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively (2001-2011) studied adults admitted to the ICUs of 2 hospitals who received RBC. Using the mean, maximum and minimum age of RBC units transfused, we evaluated the association between RBC storage duration and mortality. We also analyzed the association between mean age of RBC units and length of stay (LOS) in survivors. We performed sensitivity analyses in patients who only received RBC in ICU and who only received leukodepleted RBC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We studied 8416 patients who received a median of 4 (interquartile range, 2-7) RBC units. After multivariate analysis, age of RBC was not independently associated with mortality, including in the subgroup analyses. Furthermore, there was no clinically relevant relationship between mean RBC age and LOS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RBC storage duration was not associated with increased mortality nor ICU and hospital LOS. These results support the view that the effect of RBC storage duration on outcomes in critically ill patients is uncertain.
authors.affiliation: The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia. Electronic address: cecile.aubron@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Cecile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aubron
authors.affiliation: The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: The Transfusion Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia; Research and Development, The Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Melbourne,Victoria 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Zoe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: McQuilten
authors.affiliation: The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pilcher
authors.affiliation: The Intensive Care Unit of The Austin Hospital, Studley Road, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hegarty
authors.affiliation: The Transfusion Service of The Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.affiliation: The Transfusion Service of The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Magrin
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, The Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Melbourne,Victoria 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Irving
authors.affiliation: The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: D Jamie
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Rinaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bellomo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000401:mortality; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004912:Erythrocytes; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Critically ill patients; Intensive care unit; Length of stay; Morbidity; Mortality; Outcome; Red blood cells storage duration; Transfusion