IS TRANSFUSION NECESSARY?
Such hazards of aged blood may have dire implications for our blood banks. If cells are in fact too old prior to the current 42-day expiration, it will make an already marginal blood supply totally inadequate, Dr. Corwin warned. Do patients really need all these transfusions anyway? Dr. Corwin reported the results of a study in which a protocol to maintain a hemoglobin level between 10 and 12 g/dL was compared to a strategy to keep hemoglobin levels between 7 and 9 g/dL.[4] By using the more restrictive strategy, they were able to reduce blood transfusion by 50%. Additionally, he said, In all clinical outcomes measured, the restrictive group did better be it 30-day mortality, hospital mortality, ICU mortality, or organ failure. Dr. Corwin described a recent randomized controlled trial of recombinant human erythropoietin in ICU patients funded by Ortho Biotech.[5] Erythropoietin recipients were given 19% fewer units of blood than were control patients. However, despite the fact that the
