title: Red blood cell transfusion is not associated with necrotizing enterocolitis: a review of consecutive transfusions in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the association between red blood cell transfusion and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in a neonatal intensive care unit with liberal transfusion practices.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective cohort study was conducted for all infants weighing <1500 g who received at least 1 packed red blood cell transfusion between January 2008 and June 2013 in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit. The primary outcome was NEC, defined as Bell stage II or greater. The temporal association of NEC and transfusion was assessed using multivariate Poisson regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study sample included 414 very low birth weight infants who received 2889 consecutive red blood cell transfusions. Twenty-four infants (5.8%) developed NEC. Four cases of NEC occurred within 48 hours of a previous transfusion event. Using multivariate Poisson regression, we did not find evidence of a temporal association between NEC and transfusion (P = .32).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no association between NEC and red blood cell transfusion. Our results differ from previous studies and suggest that the association between NEC and transfusion may be contextual.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA. Electronic address: matthew.ben.wallenstein@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Matthew B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Wallenstein
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Yassar H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Arain
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Krista L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Birnie
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; Division of Transfusion Medicine, Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; Division of Systems Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Jonathan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Palma
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Benitz
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
authors.forename: Valerie Y
authors.initials: VY
authors.lastname: Chock
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000209:etiology*; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome