Restrictive vs. Liberal Transfusion Threshold After Noncardiac Surgery

Randomized trials in which restrictive red-cell transfusion (trigger hemoglobin level, 7–8 g/dL) was compared with liberal transfusion (trigger hemoglobin level, 9–10 g/dL) generally have shown better (or equivalent) outcomes with restrictive transfusion policies. No randomized trials have been conducted to examine postoperative transfusion thresholds for general (i.e., noncardiac, nonorthopedic) surgery patients.

In this observational study, researchers used a surgical quality database to examine detailed, prospectively collected information from 52 Michigan hospitals. Of nearly 49,000 general or vascular surgery patients, 2243 received red-cell transfusions within 72 hours after surgery. Transfused patients were compared with a similar num…