Patient safety and blood transfusion: new solutions.
Interesting paper on new solutions for making transfusions safer. The only aspect which is missing is a better education of the staff involved in hemotherapy, which is even more important […]
Tag: BLOOD-TRANSFUSION
Prognostic significance of perioperative blood transfusion in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.
The debate of blood transfusion and cancer recurrence continues in this study. The authors found LN status and >3 units of blood transfused to be poor prognostic factors, but this […]
A novel hemostatic agent: the potential role of recombinant activated factor VII (RFVIIa) in anesthetic practice.
This is an excellent literature review on the adjuvant use of rFVIIa in treating severe bleeding associated with surgical procedures in non-hemophiliac patients. It gives an overview of the mechanism […]
The effects of epoetin alfa on transfusion requirements in head and neck cancer patients: a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study.
An exciting issue is studied in this head/neck cancer patient population. Perioperative EPO may have a role to decrease blood transfusion needs and speed recovery. While this is only a […]
Effect of blood transfusion during radiotherapy on the immune function of patients with cancer of the uterine cervix: role of interleukin-10.
This article generates some good ideas and hypotheses about what might be causing, at the basic science level, the adverse treatment outcome effects of blood transfusion. We look forward to […]
Treatment of life-threatening post-haemorrhagic anaemia with cell-free haemoglobin solution in an adolescent Jehovah’s Witness.
This case report describes the successful use of a purified human cell-free hemoglobin solution (Hemolink(R)) in combination with erythropoietin, iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid in the management of profound […]
How effective is acute normovolaemic haemodilution in femoro-distal bypass surgery?
This case control cohort study reports that the efficacy of acute normovolemic hemodilution as a blood conservation technique appears limited due to the usually poor clinical status of patients undergoing […]
Acute normovolemic hemodilution and intraoperative cell salvage in aortic surgery.
This retrospective study reviews the blood conservation strategy developed in patients undergoing infrarenal aortic surgery in a tertiary vascular unit from 1995 to 2001. The authors show that the judicious […]
An audit on the blood transfusion requirements for revision hip arthroplasty.
This paper notes the blood transfusion requirements for revision hip arthroplasty at one Orthopedic center. Overall the number of units transfused seems high and the exact reason for transfusion is […]
Transfusion-related alloimmune neutropenia: an undescribed complication of blood transfusion.
Interesting, but very rare adverse reaction that needs not be treated as long as no bacterial infection complicates the situation. Then antibiotics are the therapy of choice, and not granulocyte […]
Place of normovolemic hemodilution in oncologic cervicofacial and ENT surgery. [Article in French]
This prospective study did not demonstrate a beneficial effect of acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) in patients undergoing cervicofacial and ENT surgery. However, it does not possess the statistical power to […]
Blood use in cerebrovascular neurosurgery.
This paper has sufficient data with regards to red cell transfusion in cerebrovascular neurosurgery that allows rational recommendations to be made with regards to a blood ordering scheme for such […]
Evaluation of an information document about patients and transfusion. [Article in French]
In my opinion, the sample reviewed in this study was too small to arrive at any meaningful conclusions. In addition, the authors have not suggested a way forward to narrow […]
The use of bovine hemoglobin glutamer-250 (Hemopure (R)) in surgical patients: Results of a multicenter, randomized, single-blinded trial.
The authors conducted a study on the safety of hemoglobin glutamer-250 in surgical patients. The protocol consisted of exposing (different) patients to increasing doses of hemoglobin glutamer-250 while safety was […]
Exposure to allogeneic plasma and risk of postoperative pneumonia and/or wound infection in coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
The study is very important with regard to the question of whether plasma-poor RBCs cause less immunosuppression than RBC units containing more or less plasma (e.g., whole blood). It can […]