A study in scarlet: restrictive red blood cell transfusion strategy.
Anemia due to various etiologies occurs in critically ill patients requiring blood transfusion. Traditional transfusion goals guide our transfusion to achieve a hemoglobin goal of at least 10 g/dL. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that a restrictive transfusion goal of 7 g/dL may improve survival outcome, reduce infection, and reduce health care expenditure. Moreover, this strategy has been proven to be effective in a variety of patient population, including those who are critically ill, septic patients, those with a history of cardiac disease, those with gastrointestinal bleed, or those who suffered traumatic injury. This article reviews some of the evidence supporting the restrictive transfusion strategy.
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York; and New York University College of Nursing.
Leon
L
Chen
D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D016638:Critical Illness; D017707:Erythrocyte Transfusion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018805:Sepsis / Q000628:therapy