Transfusion medicine
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Transfusion medicine · Apr 2018
ReviewMassive transfusions for critical bleeding: is everything old new again?
Massive transfusion or major haemorrhage protocols have been widely adopted in the treatment of critically bleeding patients. Following evidence that higher ratios of transfused plasma and platelets to red blood cells may offer survival benefits in military trauma patients, these ratios are now commonly incorporated into massive transfusion protocols. ⋯ However, high-quality evidence to guide transfusion support for critically bleeding patients across the range of bleeding contexts is lacking, including for both trauma and non-trauma patients. More data on major haemorrhage support and clinical outcomes are needed to inform guidelines and practice.
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This article aims at reviewing the currently available evidence about blood conservation strategies in cardiac surgery. Pre-operative anaemia and perioperative allogeneic blood transfusions are associated with worse outcomes after surgery. In addition, transfusions are a scarce and costly resource. ⋯ There is less evidence to recommend minimally invasive surgery. Cell salvage and point-of-care tests should also be a part of the routine care. Post-operatively, any unnecessary iatrogenic blood loss should be avoided.
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Pre-operative anaemia and perioperative red blood cell transfusion carry significant consequence when it comes to surgical outcomes. The establishment of patient-centred clinical pathways has been designed to harness and endorse good transfusion practice, termed the three pillars of patient blood management (PBM). These focus on the timely and appropriate management of anaemia, prevention of blood loss and restrictive transfusion where appropriate. ⋯ Recently published national quality standards have recognised the features of the PBM blueprint such as the consideration of alternatives to red blood cell transfusion, the active measures to reduce perioperative blood loss and the appropriate management of post-operative anaemia. Adopting PBM in surgical patients should be paramount to reduce the risks posed by perioperative anaemia and blood transfusions. The principles of PBM help structure the interventions and decisions relating to anaemia and blood transfusion, but, more importantly, represent a paradigm shift towards a more considered approach to blood transfusion, acknowledging its risks, preventatives and alternatives.
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Transfusion medicine · Apr 2018
ReviewTowards a systematic approach for (de)implementation of patient blood management strategies.
Despite the increasing availability of evidence in transfusion medicine literature, this evidence does not automatically find its way into practice. This is also applicable to patient blood management (PBM). It may concern the lack of implementation of effective new techniques or treatments, or it may apply to the (over)use of techniques and treatments (e.g. inappropriate transfusions) that have proven to be of limited benefit for patients (low-value care) and could be abandoned (de-implementation). ⋯ In this article, we describe implementation vs de-implementation, highlight the current situation of (de)implementation in PBM and describe a systematic approach for (de)implementation illustrated by an example of a PBM de-implementation study regarding '(cost-) effective patient blood management in total hip and knee arthroplasty'. The systematic approach used for (de)implementation is based on the implementation model of Grol, which consists of the following five steps: the detection of improvement goals, a problem analysis, the selection of (de)implementation strategies, the execution of the (de)implementation strategy and an evaluation. Based on the description of the current situation and the experiences in our de-implementation study, we can conclude that de-implementation may be more difficult than expected as other factors may play a role in effective de-implementation compared to implementation.