Transfusion
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Severely anemic patients for whom blood transfusion is not an option provide highly valuable information on risks of anemia and alternative management strategies. ⋯ Our study confirms the previously reported low risk of mortality in upper nadir Hb ranges of 7 to 8 g/dL and much higher risk in lower ranges, albeit the number of patients reaching extremely low Hb levels were lower than previous report, possibly suggestive of improved management strategy of these patients.
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Although clinical outcomes have been reported for patients who do not accept allogeneic blood transfusion (ABT), many previous studies lack a control group, fail to use risk adjustment, and focus exclusively on cardiac surgery. ⋯ Using appropriate blood conservation measures for patients who do not accept ABT results in similar or better outcomes and is associated with equivalent or lower costs. This specialized care may be beneficial even for those patients who accept ABT.
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Patient blood management (PBM) programs seek to optimize the utilization of blood components. Since our institution's program started, the annual number of red blood cell (RBC) units transfused has decreased by 27% overall. ⋯ Our success was achieved through hospital-wide physician buy-in toward a restrictive transfusion approach. We hope to encourage others to consider PBM for improved patient outcomes and blood conservation.
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Despite the high utilization of blood products by pediatric oncology patients, literature in this population remains scarce. The primary objective of this study was to assess red blood cell (RBC) and platelet (PLT) utilization rates and transfusion thresholds in pediatric oncology patients. The secondary objective was to describe transfusion-related complications including RBC alloantibody development and transfusion reactions. ⋯ This study assessed utilization rates, transfusion thresholds, alloantibody development, and transfusion reactions in pediatric oncology patients. The descriptive results from this epidemiologic study provide baseline information to generate hypotheses to be tested in future interventional studies.