1.
Clinical Outcomes Associated With Allogeneic Red Blood Cell Transfusions in Spinal Surgery: A Systematic Review
Blackburn CW, Morrow KL, Tanenbaum JE, DeCaro JE, Gron JM, Steinmetz MP
Global spine journal. 2019;9(4):434-445
Abstract
Study Design: Systematic review. Objectives: The objectives of this systematic review were to report the available clinical evidence on patient outcomes associated with perioperative allogeneic red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in adult patients undergoing spinal surgery and to determine whether there is any evidence to support an association between transfusion timing and clinical outcomes. Methods: A systematic review of the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases was performed to identify all articles examining outcomes of adult spinal surgery patients who received perioperative allogeneic RBC transfusions. The level of evidence for each study was assessed using the "Oxford Levels of Evidence 2" classification system. Meta-analysis was not performed due to the heterogeneity of reports. Results: A total of 2759 unique citations were identified and 76 studies underwent full-text review. Thirty-four studies were selected for analysis. All the studies, except one, were retrospective. Eleven studies investigated intraoperative or postoperative transfusions. Only one article compared outcomes related to intraoperative versus postoperative transfusions. Conclusions: Perioperative transfusion is associated with increased rates of postoperative complications, especially infectious complications, and prolonged length of stay. Some evidence suggests that a dose-response relationship may exist between morbid events and the number of RBC units administered, but these findings are inconsistent. Because of the heterogeneity of reports and inconsistent findings, the incidence of specific complications remains unclear. Limited research activity has focused on intraoperative versus postoperative transfusions, or the effect of transfusion on functional outcomes of spine surgery patients. Further research is warranted to address these clinical issues.
2.
Is blood transfusion associated with an increased risk of infection among spine surgery patients?: A meta-analysis
He YK, Li HZ, Lu HD
Medicine. 2019;98(28):e16287
Abstract
BACKGROUND Blood transfusions are associated with many adverse outcomes among spine surgery patients, but it remains unclear whether perioperative blood transfusion during spine surgery and postoperative infection are related. Recently, many related cohort studies have been published on this topic. METHODS This study was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for eligible published studies. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to assess the methodological quality of the studies, and a random-effects model was used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the source of heterogeneity. RESULTS The final analysis included 8 cohort studies with a total of 34,185 spine surgery patients. These studies were considered to be of high or moderate quality based on their NOS scores, which ranged from 5 to 9. Pooled estimates indicated that blood transfusion increased the infection rate (OR, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.95 to 4.59; I = 86%), which was consistent with the sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that perioperative blood transfusion is a risk factor for postoperative infection among spine surgery patients. Further study is necessary to identify other influencing factors and to establish the mechanism underlying this relationship. Additional measures may be needed to reduce unnecessary blood transfusions during spine surgery.
3.
A clinical trial to detect subclinical transfusion-induced lung injury during surgery
Feiner JR, Gropper MA, Toy P, Lieberman J, Twiford J, Weiskopf RB
Anesthesiology. 2015;123((1)):126-35.
Abstract
BACKGROUND Transfusion-related acute lung injury incidence remains the leading cause of posttransfusion mortality. The etiology may be related to leukocyte antibodies or biologically active compounds in transfused plasma, injuring susceptible recipient's lungs. The authors have hypothesized that transfusion could have less severe effects that are not always appreciated clinically and have shown subtly decreased pulmonary oxygen gas transfer in healthy volunteers after transfusion of fresh and 21-day stored erythrocytes. In this study, the authors tested the same hypothesis in surgical patients. METHODS Ninety-one patients undergoing elective major spine surgery with anticipated need for erythrocyte transfusion were randomly allocated to receive their first transfusion of erythrocytes as cell salvage (CS), washed stored, or unwashed stored. Clinicians were not blinded to group assignment. Pulmonary gas transfer and mechanics were measured 5 min before and 30 min after erythrocyte transfusion. RESULTS The primary outcome variable, gas transfer, as assessed by change of PaO2/FIO2, with erythrocyte transfusion was not significant in any group (mean +/- SD; CS: 9 +/- 59; washed: 10 +/- 26; and unwashed: 15 +/- 1) and did not differ among groups (P = 0.92). Pulmonary dead space (VD/VT) decreased with CS transfusion (-0.01 +/- 0.04; P = 0.034) but did not change with other erythrocytes; the change from before to after erythrocyte transfusion did not differ among groups (-0.01 to +0.01; P = 0.28). CONCLUSIONS The authors did not find impaired gas exchange as assessed by PaO2/FIO2 with transfused erythrocytes that did or did not contain nonautologous plasma. This clinical trial did not support the hypothesis of erythrocyte transfusion-induced gas exchange deficit that had been found in healthy volunteers.
