• Hye-Kyoung Lee, Dong-Ho Kim, Ung-Sik Jin, Young-Tae Jeon, Jung-Won Hwang, and Hee-Pyoung Park.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
• Microsurgery. 2014 Sep 1;34(6):434-8.

BackgroundTransfusion with old red blood cells (RBCs) was associated with adverse clinical outcomes. The effect of perioperative transfusion of old RBCs on postoperative complications after free muscle sparing transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap surgery was retrospectively investigated.MethodsTwo hundred sixty-one patients undergoing breast reconstruction were assigned to two groups: no transfusion and transfusion groups. Transfused patients were further divided according to the RBC storage duration (fresh, ≤14 days; old, >14 days). Postoperative complications such as vascular thrombosis, hematoma, and flap congestion were noted.ResultsPatients who received old blood (n = 34), compared with those received fresh blood (n = 40) or no transfusion (n = 187), had a higher incidence of postoperative complications (44.1% vs. 20.0% or 12.8%, P < 0.05).ConclusionsPerioperative transfusion of old RBCs can be associated with an increase in postoperative complications after free muscle sparing TRAM flap surgery.© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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