Blood Conservation in Cardiac Surgery: Let's Get Restrictive

Despite increasing evidence suggesting harmful effects of blood transfusions, physician practices are slow to change. A systematic approach is required to successfully minimize the need for red cell transfusions in the perioperative cardiac surgical patient. This involves preoperative, intraoperativ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSeminars in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 121 - 126
Main Authors Varghese, Robin, MD, MS, FRCSC, Myers, M. Lee, MD, FRCSC
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 2010
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Summary:Despite increasing evidence suggesting harmful effects of blood transfusions, physician practices are slow to change. A systematic approach is required to successfully minimize the need for red cell transfusions in the perioperative cardiac surgical patient. This involves preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative strategies to minimize blood loss and maximize blood conservation. In addition it requires physician education regarding the potential deleterious effects of blood and the more recent evidence that restrictive transfusion strategies are safe and possibly beneficial to postoperative surgical outcomes. In this article, we review the data with respect to blood transfusions in cardiac surgery patients as well as management strategies to minimize the need for blood transfusions in the perioperative period.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
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ISSN:1043-0679
1532-9488
DOI:10.1053/j.semtcvs.2010.09.010