Transfusion
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The effect of an intraoperative treatment algorithm on physicians' transfusion practice in cardiac surgery.
Inappropriate transfusion in cardiac surgery may, in part, be due to empiric transfusion therapy instituted in the absence of timely laboratory data. Therefore, the effect of a transfusion decision algorithm based on intraoperative coagulation monitoring of physicians' transfusion practice and the transfusion outcome was evaluated. ⋯ The use of algorithms by transfusion decision makers can serve as an effective physician education intervention.