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A Randomized Clinical Trial of Red Blood Cell Transfusion Triggers in Cardiac Surgery

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Submitted by

Arie Blitz

Source

Source Name: Annals of Thoracic Surgery

Source URL: http://www.annalsthoracicsurgery.org/article/S0003-4975(17)30781-6/fulltext

Author(s)

Colleen G. Koch, MD, MBA, Daniel I. Sessler, MD, Edward J. Mascha, PhD, Joseph F. Sabik III, MD, Liang Li, PhD, Andra I. Duncan, MD, Nicole M. Zimmerman, MS, Eugene H. Blackstone, MD

The Cleveland Clinic group performed a randomized clinical trial comparing transfusion triggers of 24% vs. 28% from 2007-2014. The study included 722 patients who underwent either CABG or valve surgery. While the lower trigger group received fewer transfusions, adverse outcomes did not differ between the groups. Because the lower trigger group had equivalent outcomes but fewer transfusions, the authors recommend using a lower trigger perioperatively.