Jul
2010

The impact of blood conservation on outcomes in cardiac surgery: is it safe and effective?

Moskowitz DM, McCullough JN, Shander A, et al.
Ann Thorac Surg 2010;90(2):451-458.
NATA Rating :
Review by : P. Van der Linden
NATA Review

In this retrospective study, the authors report that a well-defined blood conservation strategy can be associated with a decrease in allogeneic blood use and a reduction in the incidence of severe postoperative complications in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. These observations are quite interesting. However, due to the methodology used, a causal relationship between the decrease in allogeneic blood use and the reduction in postoperative morbidity cannot be demonstrated. Other studies have demonstrated that the adoption of a multidisciplinary blood conservation strategy may result not only in a decrease in allogeneic blood product use, but also in a significant improvement in the global quality of care.

– Philippe Van der Linden

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