A simple program to improve the appropriateness of red blood cell transfusions in non-bleeding hospital patients: a before-and-after study

Jan Herzyk; Dawid Wilczek; Renata Kopczyńska; Piotr F Czempik

doi:10.5114/aoms/177281

A simple program to improve the appropriateness of red blood cell transfusions in non-bleeding hospital patients: a before-and-after study

Arch Med Sci. 2024 Jan 16;20(1):317-320. doi: 10.5114/aoms/177281. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Jan Herzyk¹, Dawid Wilczek¹, Renata Kopczyńska², Piotr F Czempik^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Students' Scientific Society, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
² Central Laboratory, University Clinical Center of Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
³ Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
⁴ Transfusion Committee, University Clinical Center of Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.

Abstract

Introduction: Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) is not devoid of risks; nor is anemia. The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of a program designed to improve the appropriateness of RBC transfusions in hospital patients.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed time periods before and after program implementation.

Results: Before program implementation 415 out of 23492 (1.8%) patients received at least 1 RBC, whereas after implementation 162 out of 25062 (0.6%) did so. The percentage of appropriate RBC transfusions increased from 23.6 to 37.1%.

Conclusions: A simple program may lead to a 3-fold decrease in transfusion rate and a significant increase in the percentage of appropriate RBC transfusions.

Keywords: Patient Blood Management; blood transfusion; red blood cell transfusion; standard operating procedure; transfusion guidelines.