Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
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Ann R Coll Surg Engl · Jul 1997
Biography Historical ArticleSir William Fergusson and the case of the doubly excised scapula.
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Red blood cells are still transfused inappropriately in spite of recent media attention and public awareness about the risks of blood products. A prospective audit was conducted to determine the avoidable blood transfusion rates in the elective perioperative setting utilising the guidelines issued by the American College of Physicians (ACP). ⋯ Violations of the guidelines were perioperative transfusion in bleeding patients who were haemodynamically stable (31%) and transfusion in asymptomatic, stable patients solely to attain a haemoglobin level above 10 g% (22%). There is a need for objective, easily adaptable and widely disseminated consensus guidelines to the indications for red blood cell transfusion.