• Tina L Palmieri, James H Holmes, Brett Arnoldo, Michael Peck, Amalia Cochran, Booker T King, William Dominic, Robert Cartotto, Dhaval Bhavsar, Edward Tredget, Francois Stapelberg, David Mozingo, Bruce Friedman, Soman Sen, Sandra L Taylor, and Brad H Pollock.
• University of California Davis and Shriners Hospital for Children Northern California, 2425 Stockton Boulevard, Suite 718, Sacramento, CA.
• Mil Med. 2019 Mar 1; 184 (Suppl 1): 11-15.

ObjectivesStudies suggest that a restrictive transfusion strategy is safe in burns, yet the efficacy of a restrictive transfusion policy in massive burn injury is uncertain. Our objective: compare outcomes between massive burn (≥60% total body surface area (TBSA) burn) and major (20-59% TBSA) burn using a restrictive or a liberal blood transfusion strategy.MethodsPatients with burns ≥20% were block randomized by age and TBSA to a restrictive (transfuse hemoglobin <7 g/dL) or liberal (transfuse hemoglobin <10 g/dL) strategy throughout hospitalization. Data collected included demographics, infections, transfusions, and outcomes.ResultsThree hundred and forty-five patients received 7,054 units blood, 2,886 in massive and 4,168 in restrictive. Patients were similar in age, TBSA, and inhalation injury. The restrictive group received less blood (45.57 ± 47.63 vs. 77.16 ± 55.0, p < 0.03 massive; 11.0 ± 16.70 vs. 16.78 ± 17.39, p < 0.001) major). In massive burn, the restrictive group had fewer ventilator days (p < 0.05). Median ICU days and LOS were lower in the restrictive group; wound healing, mortality, and infection did not differ. No significant outcome differences occurred in the major (20-59%) group (p > 0.05).ConclusionsA restrictive transfusion strategy may be beneficial in massive burns in reducing ventilator days, ICU days and blood utilization, but does not decrease infection, mortality, hospital LOS or wound healing.© Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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