Transfusion medicine
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Transfusion medicine · Dec 1998
Meta AnalysisErythropoietin to minimize perioperative blood transfusion: a systematic review of randomized trials. The International Study of Peri-operative Transfusion (ISPOT) Investigators.
Our aim was to perform a systematic review to determine the efficacy and side-effects of erythropoietin, given with or without autologous predonation, to patients undergoing orthopaedic or cardiac surgery. A number of studies have been done to determine whether erythropoietin minimizes exposure to perioperative allogeneic red cell transfusion. A systematic review of all randomized trials will provide the best estimate of the efficacy and side-effects of erythropoietin therapy. ⋯ Although there was no convincing evidence that erythropoietin used alone increased the frequency of thrombotic complications, some studies found an excess of events in erythropoietin-treated patients, and the number of patients studied was relatively small. Erythropoietin, when given alone or to augment autologous donation, decreased exposure to perioperative allogeneic transfusion in orthopaedic and cardiac surgery. Further studies are required to definitively establish the safety of erythropoietin alone, to determine the optimal dose of perioperative erythropoietin, and to compare its efficacy and cost-effectiveness with other methods of minimizing perioperative transfusion.