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Review
. 2023 Dec;37(4):486-494.
doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2023.11.002. Epub 2023 Nov 10.

Postoperative anaemia: Hiding in plain sight

Ethan H Crispell  1 , Jessica Trinh  2 , Matthew A Warner  3
Affiliations
Review

Postoperative anaemia: Hiding in plain sight

Ethan H Crispell et al. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Postoperative anaemia is common among surgical patients. While often viewed as a benign condition, postoperative anaemia is neither inevitable nor harmless, being intricately linked with adverse outcomes. In this review, we summarize the prevalence, aetiology, and outcomes of postoperative anaemia and highlight prevention and management strategies. Further, we propose a novel framework to characterize postoperative anaemia as an acute organ injury (i.e., acute blood injury, anaemic subtype), thereby drawing attention to a condition that is frequently overlooked. Additionally, we discuss areas warranting further research, including risk stratification for patients at heightened risk for the development of postoperative anaemia and associated complications and determination of appropriate treatment strategies.

Keywords: Acute blood injury; Anaemia; Bleeding; Erythropoietin; Iron; Perioperative; Preoperative; Surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The work described herein has not been published previously, is not under consideration of publication elsewhere, has been approved by all authors, and, if accepted, will not be published elsewhere in the same form. All conflicts of interest and funding have been acknowledged in the manuscript. Briefly, Dr. Warner receives research support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI, K23HL153310) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The contents of this manuscript are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. Dr. Warner also serves as a non-remunerated member of the Board of Directors of the Society for the Advancement of Patient Blood Management (SABM).

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