Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Nov 2013
Observational StudyTiming of blood transfusion in relation to ICU admission-a single centre audit.
There is growing concern that blood transfusion may be associated with adverse outcomes in critically ill patients. Timing of transfusion in relation to intensive care unit (ICU) stay may be important in designing and understanding transfusion studies. The objective of this study was to determine the timing of red blood cell transfusion in relation to admission to an Australian ICU and to describe associations with transfusion requirements. ⋯ There was no difference between transfused and non-transfused groups in either crude mortality or severity-adjusted mortality. In approximately one-third of ICU patients in our study transfusions occurred before admission to, and/or after discharge from, the ICU. This has implications for designing and interpreting transfusion studies in the ICU and requires confirmation in a multi-centre study.