Wednesday November 5, 2008
Does Transfusion increases length of stay

Joseph Datsha and their colleague published a retrospective study on management of anemia in critically ill patients and their effects in American Journal of Therapeutics.

Study was designed to measure

• to measure packed red blood cell (pRBC) use across different critical care settings;
• to characterize transfused and nontransfused critically ill patients; and
• to identify potential predictors of transfusion use.

A retrospective analysis of critically ill patients from 139 hospitals across the United States was conducted.

Results: A total of 180,221 patients met all inclusion criteria, with 29,331 (16.3%) receiving pRBCs during their ICU stay.There was differential use of pRBCs by ICU/coronary care unit setting (i.e., 23% of general ICU patients versus 7% of intermediate coronary care unit patients).

Increasing age, Declining hemoglobin concentrations, Mechanical ventilation, dialysis, Presence of acute renal failure, Congestive heart failure and Septicemia were associated with a higher likelihood of pRBC use.

Each pRBC transfusion significantly increased hospital length of stay (1.6, 0.5, and 2.7 additional days for patients with 1, 2, and 3 or more transfusions, respectively, P <>

Conclusions: Multiple factors increased the likelihood of pRBC use in ICU patients. In addition, pRBC transfusion was associated with increased length of stay.



Reference: click to get article

Dasta J, Modt S, McLaughlin T, LeBlanc J et al. Current Management of Anemia in Critically Ill Patients: Analysis of a Database of 139 Hospitals. Journal of Therapeutics. 2008 15(5):423-430.