Is Perioperative Transfusion Associated with Postoperative VTE?

Surgery and general anesthesia are recognized risk factors for hospital-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE), a largely preventable cause of substantial morbidity and mortality. In this study, researchers used a large surgery registry (750,000 patients from 525 institutions across North America) to determine whether an association exists between perioperative red blood cell (RBC) transfusions (within 72 hours of surgery) and development of postoperative VTE (within 30 days of surgery). Experimental evidence that RBC transfusions might have prothrombotic effects was the rationale for the study.

Of roughly 50,000 patients (6% of the cohort) who received perioperative RBC transfusions, approximately 6000 (0.8%) developed postoperative VTE. R…