Lindgren T, Kodakandla H, Caraway SM, Shah KB, Huang X, Ibekwe SO. Red Blood Cell Conservation and Use in the Cardiovascular Operating Rooms at Ben Taub General Hospital.
J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth 2023;
37:1946-1950. [PMID:
37455220 DOI:
10.1053/j.jvca.2023.06.026]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
A conservative hemoglobin transfusion threshold is noninferior to a liberal threshold in cardiac surgery. However, red blood cell (RBC) transfusion remains common during cardiac surgery. The authors' single-center, retrospective study aimed to decrease RBC transfusions for hemoglobin >7.5 g/dL in nonemergent cardiovascular surgeries utilizing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), by educating the anesthesiology and surgical staff on the benefits of a conservative threshold for transfusions, and incorporating the discussion and routine use of blood conservation methods for all nonemergent cardiac surgeries.
DESIGN
This was a single-center, retrospective study that included all nonemergent coronary artery bypass grafting and single-valve cases utilizing CPB from January 2018 to December 2021 before and after the intervention in July 2019.
SETTING
The data involved a single community hospital.
PARTICIPANTS
A total of 417 patients were included in the study.
INTERVENTIONS
The authors adopted a conservative threshold for blood transfusion and implemented a collaborative multidisciplinary approach to blood conservation.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Baseline patient characteristics were summarized, and the incidence of RBC transfusion before and after the intervention on July 26, 2019, were compared by Wilcoxon rank sum and chi-square tests. Multivariate logistic regression was used. The intervention was significantly associated with reduced RBC transfusion rate after adjusting for confounding variables (p < 0.05). The odds of receiving an RBC transfusion among patients after the intervention was 0.615 times the odds among patients before intervention (95% CI: 0.3913-0.9663).
CONCLUSIONS
The authors' goal was to improve patient outcomes and the quality of perioperative care during cardiac surgery. By implementing a protocol and educating anesthesiologists, surgeons, and perfusionists, they successfully decreased the incidence of RBC transfusion above a hemoglobin of 7.5 g/dL.
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