Red Blood Cell Transfusion Requirements Before and After Implementation of a Perioperative Patient Blood Management Program in Adult Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery. A Before and After Observational Study

Abstract

Objectives: Anemia and transfusion are common in cardiac surgery patients, and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Multiple perioperative interventions have been described to reduce blood transfusion, but are rarely combined altogether. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery before and after the implementation of a perioperative patient blood management (PBM) program.

Design: Before-and-after observational study.

Setting: Single-center French university teaching hospital.

Participants: Adult patients scheduled for cardiac surgery.

Interventions: Perioperative patient blood management program including pre-, intra-, and postoperative interventions aimed at identifying and correcting anemia, minimizing blood loss during surgery, and optimizing coagulation.

Measurements and main results: Four hundred thirty-four patients were included in the study from January 2021 to July 2022. The incidence of perioperative RBC transfusion (intraoperatively and during the first 2 postoperative days) was significantly reduced from 43% (90/213) in the pre-PBM period to 27% (60/221) in the post-PBM period (p < 0.001). The application of a PBM program was associated with a reduction in perioperative RBC transfusion by multivariate analysis (odds ratio 0.55, 95% CI 0.36-0.85, p = 0.007), and was associated with a reduction in the median number of RBC units transfused within transfused patients (p = 0.025). These effects persisted at day 30 after surgery (p = 0.029).

Conclusion: A perioperative PBM program in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery was associated with a significant reduction in perioperative RBC transfusion, which persisted at day 30.

Keywords: anemia; cardiac surgery; patient blood management; perioperative; transfusion.