• Victoria A McCredie, Simone Piva, Marlene Santos, Wei Xiong, Airton Leonardo de Oliveira Manoel, Andrea Rigamonti, Gregory M T Hare, Martin G Chapman, and Andrew J Baker.
• Department of Critical Care Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, 2075 Bayview Ave, Room D108, Toronto, ON, M4N 3M5, Canada. Victoria.McCredie@sunnybrook.ca.
• Neurocrit Care. 2017 Apr 1; 26 (2): 247-255.

BackgroundThere are a range of opinions on the benefits and thresholds for the transfusion of red blood cells in critically ill patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and an urgent need to understand the neurophysiologic effects. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of red blood cell transfusions on cerebral tissue oxygenation (SctO2) in critically ill TBI patients.MethodsThis prospective observational study enrolled consecutive TBI patients with anemia requiring transfusion. Cerebral tissue oxygen saturation (SctO2) was measured noninvasively with bilateral frontal scalp probes using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology. Data were collected at baseline and for 24 h after transfusion. The primary outcome was the applicability of a four-wavelength near-infrared spectrometer to monitor SctO2 changes during a transfusion. Secondary outcomes included the correlation of SctO2 with other relevant physiological variables, the dependence of SctO2 on baseline hemoglobin and transfusion, and the effect of red blood cell transfusion on fractional tissue oxygen extraction.ResultsWe enrolled 24 patients with severe TBI, of which five patients (21 %) were excluded due to poor SctO2 signal quality from large subdural hematomas and bifrontal decompressive craniectomies. Twenty transfusions were monitored in 19 patients. The mean pre- and post-transfusion hemoglobin concentrations were significantly different [74 g/L (SD 8 g/L) and 84 g/L (SD 9 g/L), respectively; p value <0.0001]. Post-transfusion SctO2 was not significantly greater than pre-transfusion SctO2 [left-side pre-transfusion 69 % (SD 7) vs. post-transfusion 70 % (SD 10); p = 0.68, and right-side pre-transfusion 69 % (SD 5) vs. post-transfusion 71 % (SD 7); p = 0.11]. In a multivariable mixed linear analysis, mean arterial pressure was the only variable significantly associated with a change in SctO2.ConclusionsThe bifrontal method of recording changes in NIRS signal was not able to detect a measurable impact on SctO2 in this sample of patients receiving red blood cell transfusion therapy in a narrow but conventionally relevant, range of anemia.

24 keywords...

hide…