A regional massive hemorrhage protocol developed through a modified Delphi technique.
The authors noted that large academic centres are very likely to have a massive haemorrhage protocol (MHP) but smaller non-academic hospitals may not. Using a Modified Delphi Method, they convened […]
The effect of anemia severity on postoperative morbidity among patients undergoing laparoscopic hysterectomy for benign indications.
This is a very well-designed retrospective study using a large American surgical database (NISQP) reporting the a high incidence of anaemia (19.5%) in patients undergoing elective laparoscopic hysterectomy. The following […]
Impact of a Patient Blood Management monitoring and feedback programme on allogeneic blood transfusions and related costs.
While Patient Blood Management (PBM) is becoming a new standard worldwide with evidence-based and expert consensus guidelines to promote the three PBM pillars, measuring the performance of these efforts remains […]
Perioperative management of patients with atrial fibrillation receiving a direct oral anticoagulant.
The Perioperative Anticoagulation Use for Surgery Evaluation (PAUSE) cohort study enrolled 3007 atrial fibrillation patients treated with apixaban, dabigatran etexilate or rivaroxaban and scheduled for an elective surgery or procedure. A […]
Obstetric intra-operative cell salvage: a review of an established cell salvage service with 1170 re-infused cases.
This is a retrospective report of 10 years of obstetrical cell salvage use in a single hospital. The authors report on 1170 patients who had a median of 231 mL of blood […]
Intra-operative red blood cell transfusion and mortality after cardiac surgery.
Many studies have shown an association between transfusion and adverse events, including short- and long-term mortality, in cardiac surgery. In this study, the authors aimed to investigate this association in […]
Effect of ultra-short-term treatment of patients with iron deficiency or anaemia undergoing cardiac surgery: a prospective randomised trial.
Preoperative anaemia detection and the timely management of deficiencies remain a serious challenge in many health care settings. In this pragmatic RCT by Spahn et al., the trial design attempted […]
Full study report of andexanet alfa for bleeding associated with factor Xa inhibitors.
Andexanet alfa, a recombinant inactive form of human factor Xa, was developed for reversal of factor Xa (FXa) inhibitors. This publication is the final report of the ANNEXA-4 study, which […]
Multimodal patient blood management program based on a three-pillar strategy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
This systematic review and meta-analysis focused on the implementation of a comprehensive PBM approach. Studies included had to address at least one recognised PBM modality per pillar. Data for 235,779 surgical […]
Antibody-based ticagrelor reversal agent in healthy volunteers.
Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is frequently used in patients with acute coronary syndrome, coronary stents, or history of myocardial infarction. An inherent risk of DAPT or anticoagulation is the increased […]
Randomized trial of platelet-transfusion thresholds in neonates.
In this multicentre trial, infants born at less than 34 weeks of gestation and in whom severe thrombocytopenia was detected were randomised to receive a platelet transfusion at a platelet count […]
Tranexamic acid is efficacious at decreasing the rate of blood loss in adolescent scoliosis surgery: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.
Posterior spinal fusion is a complex surgical procedure indicated to correct spinal deformation in idiopathic or neuromuscular scoliosis. Spine surgery can be associated with significant intraoperative blood losses and may […]
Association of oral anticoagulants and proton pump inhibitor cotherapy with hospitalization for upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding.
A huge study showing that during 754 389 person-years of anticoagulant treatment with apixaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and warfarin, the risk of hospitalization for upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding was highest for rivaroxaban. The […]
Pantoprazole in patients at risk for gastrointestinal bleeding in the ICU.
This European multicentre trial randomised ICU patients to receive 40 mg of IV pantoprazole or placebo daily in 3298 patients following admission for an acute event. The authors reported no differences in at […]
Shifts of transfusion demand in cardiac surgery after implementation of rotational thromboelastometry-guided transfusion protocols: analysis of the HEROES-CS observational, prospective open cohort database
In this study, Kuiper et al. compared outcome after cardiac surgery in terms of bleeding, rethoracotomies, transfusion needs and economic costs during two separate periods: the intervention period with implementation […]