Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care
Volume 39, Issue 3 , Pages 217-225 , May 2010

Anemia and blood transfusion practices in the critically ill: A prospective cohort review

  • Jissy Thomas, RN, MN

      Affiliations

    • Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  • ,
  • Louise Jensen, RN, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author: Louise Jensen, RN, PhD, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G3, Canada.
  • ,
  • Susan Nahirniak, MD, FRCP (C)

      Affiliations

    • Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta Hospital, Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  • ,
  • R.T. Noel Gibney, MB, FRCP (C)

      Affiliations

    • Division of Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

References 

  1. Parillo J. Anemia management, and evidence-based critical care medicine. Crit Care Med. 2001;29(Suppl):S139
  2. Vincent JL, Baron J, Reinhart K, et al. Anemia and blood transfusion in critically ill patients. JAMA. 2002;288:1499–1507
  3. Brown M, Whalen P. Red blood cell transfusion in critically ill patients: emerging risks and alternatives. Crit Care Nurse. 2000;20(Suppl):1–14
  4. von Ahsen N, Muller C, Serke S, Frei U, Eckardt K. Important role of nondiagnostic blood loss and blunted erythropoietic response in the anemia of medical intensive care patients. Crit Care Med. 2001;29:141–159
  5. Zimmerman JE, Seneff MG, Sun X, Wagner DP, Knaus WA. Evaluating laboratory usage in the intensive care unit: patient and institutional characteristics that influence frequency of blood sampling. Crit Care Med. 1997;25:737–748
  6. Pohlman AS, Carven JH, Lindsay K. Conserving blood in the intensive care unit. Crit Care Nurse. 2001;21(Suppl):1–14
  7. Surgenor SD, Hampers MJ, Corwin HL. Is blood transfusion good for the heart?. Crit Care Med. 2001;29:442–444
  8. Hebert PC, Yetisir E, Martin C, et al. Is a low transfusion threshold safe in critically ill patients with cardiovascular diseases?. Crit Care Med. 2001;29:227–234
  9. Hebert PC, Wells G, Blajchman MA, et al. A multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial of transfusion requirements in critical care. N Engl J Med. 1999;340:409–417
  10. Canadian Medical Association . Expert working group: guidelines for red blood cell and plasma transfusion for adults and children. Can Med Assoc J. 1997;156(Suppl 11):S1–24
  11. Hebert PC, Wells G, Martin C, et al. Canadian survey of transfusion practices in critically ill patients. Crit Care Med. 1998;26:482–487
  12. Boralessa H, Rao M, Morgan C, et al. A survey of physicians' attitudes to transfusion practice in critically ill patients in the UK. Anaesthesia. 2002;57:584–588
  13. Corwin HL, Gettinger A, Pearl RG, et al. Efficacy of recombinant human erythropoietin in critically ill patients: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2002;288:2827–2835
  14. Carson JL. Should patients in intensive care units receive erythropoietin [editorial]?. JAMA. 2002;288:2884–2886
  15. Pearl RG, Pohlman A. Understanding and managing anemia in critically ill patients. Crit Care Nurse. 2002;26(Suppl):1–12
  16. Hebert PL, Fergusson DA, Stather D, et al. Revisiting transfusion practices in critically ill patients. Crit Care Med. 2005;33:7–12
  17. Turgeon AF, Fergusson DA, Doucette S, et al. Red blood cell transfusion practices amongst Canadian anesthesiologists: a survey. Can J Anesth. 2006;53:344–352
  18. Corwin HL. Anemia of the critically ill: “acute” anemia of chronic disease. Crit Care Med. 2000;28:3098–3099
  19. Tarpey J, Lawler PG. Iatrogenic anemia: a survey of venesection in patients in the intensive therapy unit. Anaesthesia. 1990;45:396–398
  20. Dale JC, Pruett SK. Phlebotomy: a minimalist approach. Mayo Clin Proc. 1993;68:249–255
  21. Ba VN, Bota DP, Melot C, Vincent J. Time course of hemoglobin concentrations in nonbleeding intensive care unit patients. Crit Care Med. 2003;31:406–410
  22. Vincent JL, Baron J-F, Reinhart K, et al. Anemia and blood transfusion in critically ill patients. JAMA. 2002;288:1499–1507
  23. Hebert PC, Schweitzer I, Calder L, Blajchman M, Giulivi A. Review of the clinical practice literature on allogenic red blood cell transfusion. Can Med Assoc J. 1997;56(Suppl):S9–26
  24. Corwin HL, Parsonnet KC, Gettinger A. RBC transfusion in the ICU: is there a reason?. Chest. 1995;108:767–771
  25. Corwin HL. Anemia in the critically ill: the role of erythropoietin. Semin Hematol. 2001;38(Suppl 7):24–32
  26. Corwin HL, Gettinger A, Pearl RG, et al. The CRIT Study: anemia and blood transfusion in the critically ill: current clinical practice in the United States. Crit Care Med. 2004;32:39–52
  27. Sherk PA, Granton JT, Kapral MK. Red blood cell transfusion in the intensive care unit. Intensive Care Med. 2000;26:344–346
  28. Hebert PC, Wells G, Tweeddale M, et al. Does transfusion practice affect mortality in critically ill patients?. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1997;155:1618–1623
  29. Rivers E, Nguyen B, Havstad S, et al. Early goal-directed therapy in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. N Engl J Med. 2001;345:1368–1377
  30. American College of Physicians . Practice strategies for elective red blood cell transfusion. Ann Intern Med. 1992;116:403–406
  31. American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Blood Component Therapy . Practice guidelines for blood component therapy. Anesthesiology. 1996;84:732–747
  32. Adam RC, Lundy JS. Anesthesia in cases of poor risk: some suggestions for decreasing the risk. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1942;74:1011–1019
  33. Stehling LC, Esposito B. An analysis of the appropriateness of intraoperative transfusion. Anesth Analg. 1989;68(Suppl):S278–S279
  34. Stehling LC, Ellison N, Faust RJ, Grotta AW, Moyers JR. A survey of transfusion practices among anesthesiologists. Vox Sang. 1987;52:60–62
  35. Hebert PC, Wells G, Marshall J, et al. Transfusion requirements in critical care: a pilot study. JAMA. 1995;273:1439–1444
  36. Vincent JL, Sakr Y, Sprung C, et al. Are blood transfusions associated with greater mortality rates? Results of the Sepsis Occurrence in Acutely Ill Patients Study. Anesthesiology. 2008;108:31–39

PII: S0147-9563(09)00182-4

doi: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2009.07.002

Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care
Volume 39, Issue 3 , Pages 217-225 , May 2010