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The first step in innovation is to identify a problem of real relevance and systematically address it to deliver a sophisticated and viable solution. Disruptive innovation is a process where technology, products, or services are transformed or replaced by a better innovative solution. This superiority must be perceived by users as being more accessible, simple, or convenient. Patient Blood Management (PBM) suggests the notion of the timely application of evidence-based medical and surgical concepts designed to maintain hemoglobin concentration, optimize hemostasis and minimize blood loss thus improving patient outcomes, that is, they are aimed at changing patient care, assisting healthcare professionals in disease treatment and cure as well as risk reduction. Thus, innovation in PBM is a new frontier to be pursued. The management of patient's blood and preparation for surgical procedures is an enormous challenge that helps minimize anemia and control blood loss during hospitalization, ensuring they are discharged in adequate clinical conditions. Until 2016, there was no standard definition or classification for the severity of intraoperative bleeding or hemostasis. The development of a PBM program when combined to the development of a bleeding scale such as the validated Intraoperative Bleeding (VIBe) Scale, represents a new solution that balances perioperative blood loss and more importantly, enables a critical cultural change which can be useful to help surgeons communicate anticipated hemostatic needs throughout a case and therefore enhance efficiency leading to better outcomes.

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Objective The primary purpose of this study was to assess the practicability of predeposit autologous blood donation (PABD) in the practice of Rh(D)-negative pregnant women. Materials and Methods A cohort of 405 Rh(D)-negative pregnant women who had a delivery in the comprehensive tertiary hospital in Nanjing was analyzed retrospectively, over 10 years. Results After PABD, 203 women experienced a slight drop in mean hemoglobin of 5.32 ± 0.5 g/L (PABD-associated anemia was not featured in our study). Thirteen women who received allogeneic blood might benefit from PABD practically. Conclusion PABD is applicable for Rh(D)-negative pregnant women, as it ensures the availability of the patient's blood in the event of perinatal hemorrhage, thus minimizing the need for transfusion from external sources. Despite the autologous blood reinfusion of low proportion, PABD could still serve as an alternative when allogeneic blood resources are scarce. However, one challenge in the future is to identify candidates who may benefit most from PABD. Also, more attention is needed to raise awareness of patient blood management. Recommended strategies include early screening and treatment of anemia, hemostasis promotion, and blood loss reduction. Replacement of allogeneic transfusion with autotransfusion could be referred to where feasible. We believe that PABD still has a promising potential for application in Rh(D)-negative pregnant women.

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Objectives: This study aimed to assess the budget and organizational impact of progressively replacing the intraoperative cell salvage centrifugation-based systems currently installed in French hospitals with the same™ system, a new autotransfusion medical device.Methods: An Organizational and Budget Impact Model (OBIM) was developed based on two methodological guidelines issued by the French Health Authority (Haute Autorité de Santé, HAS). The OBIM was also developed based on a pragmatic literature review, hospital data and hospital pharmacists' expertise.Results: Considering an average hospital cohort of 600 cardio-thoracic surgery patients, with 57% experiencing mild hemorrhages, 23% moderate hemorrhages, and 20% massive hemorrhages, and a same™ market share of 33% in Year 1, the implementation of same™ resulted in significant savings. With an average allogeneic transfusion of 4.19 packed red blood cells (RBC) and 0.62 platelet concentrate per patient based on National Hemovigilance Report of the ANSM (French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products) and when using same™ system a reduction of 45% of RBC transfusion associated with a reduction of 60% and 90% of platelet use for moderate and massive hemorrhages respectively, the first year annual saving amounted to €44,601 and the cumulated saving over 5 years to €535,206.Discussion: This model structure was developed based on overall hospitals' needs and acknowledged guidelines, with inputs based on French literatures and hospital data, so findings were specifics to a context. Among the inputs, the number of annual same™ procedure is not based on device capability but rather on hospital capability with the number of operating rooms used for cardio-thoracic surgery equipped with the device.Conclusions: The results of this OBIM demonstrated the economic and organizational benefits of same™ for hospitals. This benefit results mainly of a reduction in the use of allogeneic blood products (RBCs, platelets).

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<b>Introduction:</b> The prevalence of preoperative anemia is the highest in the group of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and may reach over 75%. The prevalence of anemia in CRC patients increases even further following surgery. Approximately 75-80% of anemic CRC patients present with absolute or functional iron deficiency (ID). Preoperative anemia constitutes an independent risk factor for allogeneic blood transfusion (ABT), postoperative complications, prolonged length of hospital stay, and increased mortality. ABT is itself associated with increased morbidity and mortality.<b>Aim:</b> The aim of this review article was to present the pathophysiology and the current approach to the diagnostics and treatment of preoperative iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in CRC patients.<b>Material and methods:</b> Extensive search of medical literature databases was performed (Pubmed, Embase). The key words that were used were as follows: CRC, colorectal surgery, ID, IDA, intravenous iron, Patient Blood Management (PBM).<b>Results:</b> There are several laboratory parameters that can be used for IDA diagnosis, however, the simplest and most cost- -effective is reticulocyte hemoglobin equivalent (RET-He). Pathophysiologic features of IDA in CRC patients favor treatment with intravenous, as opposed to oral, iron formulations. Applying PBM strategies minimizes the exposure to ABT.<b>Conclusions:</b> Preoperative IDA is highly prevalent among CRC patients. Preoperative anemia is an independent risk factor for ABT, increased morbidity and mortality, as well as prolonged hospital length of stay. The same negative consequences are associated with ABT. Therefore, preoperative IDA in CRC patients needs to be screened for, diagnosed, and treated before surgery. Effective treatment of preoperative IDA in CRC patients is with intravenous iron formulations. ABT should be the treatment of last resort due to the risk of negative clinical consequences, including an increased rate of cancer recurrence.

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Introduction: Patients who undergo surgery may require a blood transfusion and patients undergoing major colorectal surgery are more prone to preoperative and perioperative anemia. Blood transfusions have, however, long been associated with inflammatory and oncological complications. We aim to investigate the effects of an optimal implementation of a patient blood management (PBM) program in our hospital. Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed data from two different prospectively maintained databases of all patients undergoing elective major colorectal surgery with either a laparoscopic, open, or robotic approach from January 2017 to December 2022 at two different high-volume colorectal surgery Italian centers: the Colorectal Surgery Unit of Fondazione Policlinico Campus Bio-Medico in Rome and the Colorectal Surgery Unit of Fondazione Cardinale Panico in Tricase (Lecce). Our study compares the first group, also known as pre-PBM (January 2017-December 2018) and the second group, known as post-PBM (January 2021-December 2022). Results: A total of 2495 patients, who satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were included in this study, with, respectively, 1197 patients in the pre-PBM group and 1298 in the post- PBM group. The surgical approach was similar amongst the two groups, while the operative time was longer in the pre-PBM group than in the post-PBM group (273.0 ± 87 vs. 215.0 ± 124 min; p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in preparatory Hb levels (p = 0.486), while anemia detection was significantly higher post-PBM (p = 0.007). However, the rate of transfusion was drastically reduced since the implementation of PBM, with p = 0.032 for preoperative, p = 0.025 for intraoperative, and p < 0.001 for postoperative. Conclusions: We confirmed the need to reduce blood transfusions and optimize transfusion procedures to improve short-term clinical outcomes of patients. The implementation of the PBM program was associated with a significant reduction in the rate of perioperative transfusions and an increase in only appropriate transfusions.

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BACKGROUND: Emergency transfusion may require the availability of O-negative red blood cell concentrates without pre-transfusion testing. At the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, the emergency department was used to having access to two decentralized O-negative red blood cell concentrates. This study aims to analyze the consumption of O-negative red blood cell concentrates in emergency situations both before and after the implementation of a novel strategy aiming at optimizing stocks. This strategy provides a combined allocation of one unit of O-positive red blood cell concentrate and one unit of O-negative red blood cell concentrate decentralized in the emergency department and reserve the transfusion of the negative unit only to under 45-year-old women and under 20-year-old men. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted of the transfusion and medical records of all patients who received immediate transfusions in the emergency department without pre-transfusion testing between 2008 and 2022. RESULTS: A total of 193 patients received O red blood cell concentrates without pre-transfusion testing in emergency situations between 2008 and 2022. During the first 24 h of hospitalization, 354 O-negative units were transfused. Mean ratios of number of O-negative bags between 2008 and 2020 was 1.98 unit/patient. After implementation of the new strategy, the ratio in 2021 was 1.46 unit/patient and drastically decreased in 2022 to 0.79 unit/patient. CONCLUSION: In situations of emergency, allocating O-negative units only for women younger than 45 years and men younger than 20 years could have saved 85% of O-negative red blood cell concentrates transfused (303/354) yet balancing the immunological risk. Limiting the number of delocalized units of O-negative red blood cell concentrates in the emergency department seems to lower O-negative consumption. With this strategy, the units spared could have been transfused to patients with greater needs (e.g., sickle cell patients or chronically transfused patients).

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BACKGROUND: Simultaneous bilateral total hip arthroplasty (SI-THA) results in more blood loss and a greater need for postoperative allogeneic blood transfusion (ABT). Previous studies have reported that multimodal patient blood management (PBM) strategies were associated with a smaller effect of intraoperative cell salvage (ICS) in unilateral total hip arthroplasty. However, there are few studies on the role of ICS in SI-THA. This study aims to explore the effect of ICS with multimodal PBM strategies on SI-THA and to identify risk factors associated with ABT. METHODS: This retrospective matched cohort study included 72 patients in the ICS group and 72 patients in the control group who were matched according to age, sex, and year of hospitalization. Demographic data, hematological indicators, blood loss, and ABT were compared between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for postoperative ABT. Postoperative outcomes were also recorded. RESULTS: In the cohort of 144 patients, 27 patients (37.5%) in the ICS group while 45 patients (62.5%) in the control group received postoperative ABT after SI-THA. Compared with the control group, the ICS group showed significant differences in terms of blood loss, postoperative hemoglobin and hematocrit. The transfused volume of allogeneic red blood cells per ABT patient was also lower in the ICS group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that sex, the utilization of ICS, and preoperative hematocrit level were identified as independent factors associated with postoperative ABT. The utilization of ICS significantly shortened off-bed time and length of hospital stay, but had no effect on early pain and functional outcomes. CONCLUSION: The utilization of ICS can significantly affect postoperative ABT in SI-THA patients with multimodal PBM strategies. Sex, the utilization of ICS and preoperative hematocrit level were identified as independent factors associated with postoperative ABT. The utilization of ICS promoted weight-bearing functional exercises, but had no effect on early outcomes.

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The French National Authority for Health (HAS) recently issued guidelines for patient blood management (PBM) in surgical procedures. These recommendations are based on three usual pillars of PBM: optimizing red cell mass, minimizing blood loss and optimizing anemia tolerance. In the preoperative period, these guidelines recommend detecting anemia and iron deficiency and taking corrective measures well in advance of surgery, when possible, in case of surgery with moderate to high bleeding risk or known preoperative anemia. In the intraoperative period, the use of tranexamic acid and some surgical techniques are recommended to limit bleeding in case of high bleeding risk or in case of hemorrhage, and the use of cell salvage is recommended in some surgeries with a major risk of transfusion. In the postoperative period, the limitation of blood samples is recommended but the monitoring of postoperative anemia must be carried out and may lead to corrective measures (intravenous iron in particular) or more precise diagnostic assessment of this anemia. A "restrictive" transfusion threshold considering comorbidities and, most importantly, the tolerance of the patient is recommended postoperatively. The implementation of a strategy and a program for patient blood management is recommended throughout the perioperative period in healthcare establishments in order to reduce blood transfusion and length of stay. This article presents an English translation of the HAS recommendations and a summary of the rationale underlying these recommendations.

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Background: Red blood cell (RBC) transfusions are frequent in patients after cardiac surgery. This study assessed whether a bundle of care including pre-operative and post-operative administration of erythropoietin (EPO) with intravenous iron supplementation, and restrictive transfusion adjusted for ScvO2 could result in reduced postoperative transfusions. Methods: In this single-centre, randomised, open-label, parallel-group controlled pilot study, patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery with high risk of transfusion in a University Hospital were enrolled by the investigator and the randomisation procedure using a central internet-based system was made by the clinical research assistant. Since the trial was open-label, no masking was used. Patients were assigned (1:1) to either the STOP group (40,000 IU subcutaneous EPO combined with 20 mg/kg intravenous ferric carboxymaltose if Hb < 13 g/dL the day before surgery or at ICU admission, and RBC transfusion if Hb ≤ 8 g/dL and ScvO2 ≤ 65%, or additional EPO dose if 8 < Hb < 13 g/dL) or to the control group (RBC transfusion if Hb ≤ 8 g/dL, or, if 8 < Hb < 13 g/dL, intravenous iron sucrose 200 mg or 300 mg according to weight). Primary outcome was the incidence of postoperative RBC transfusion up to hospital discharge or postoperative day 28. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04141631. Findings: Between Jan 20, 2020, and Sept 6, 2022, among 128 patients enrolled, 123 (male, 54.4%, 67/123) were included in the full analysis set: 62 in the STOP group and 61 in the control group. Nine patients (14.5%, 9/62) in the STOP group required RBC transfusion vs 19 (31.2%, 19/61) in the control group (odds ratio 0.37 [95% CI: 0.15-0.91], p = 0.03). The median length of follow up to transfusion was 2.6 days (1.5; 4.6) and 3.3 (1.6; 4.2) in control and STOP groups respectively (p = 0.61). Interpretation: The bundle of care may reduce postoperative RBC transfusion. The findings should be taken with caution due to the unblinded and exploratory nature of the study. Funding: University of Montpellier Hospital and Vifor Pharma.

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Preoperative anemia in children is a significant clinical concern requiring precise diagnosis. Although traditional blood sample collection is effective, it poses challenges because of children's aversion and technical difficulties. Therefore, this study explores the suitability of noninvasive hemoglobin measurements in children during preoperative anesthesia consultation. Noninvasive hemoglobin measurement (SpHb®; Masimo) in children aged ≤ 17 years was performed during preoperative anesthesia consultation and compared with laboratory hemoglobin (labHb) levels. SpHb was measured in 62 children (median age: 6 years, standard deviation [SD] ± 5.3) without adverse effects but was unsuccessful in one child. The bias, limits of agreement, and root mean square error between SpHb and labHb were 0.3, -2.26- +2.8, and 1.3 g/dl, respectively. LabHb demonstrated a significant regression relationship with R2 of 0.359. LabHb was associated with a negative effect on bias [- 0.443 (CI 95: - 0.591- - 0.153, P < 0.001)], i.e., SpHb tends to underestimate labHb for high labHb values. The retest reliability between two consecutive SpHb measurements was 0.727 (P < 0.001). Double measurement of SpHb, age, weight, sex, heart rate, and perfusion index had no significant effects on accuracy. Using SpHb, a specificity of 96.3% (95% confidence interval [CI 95]: 87.3%-99.5%) and a sensitivity of 57.1% (CI 95: 18.4%-90.1%) were observed. Based on adapted cut-off values for SpHb (age-dependent cut-off values plus 0.8 g/dl), a sensitivity of 100% (CI 95: 64.6%-100%) was achieved for the investigated study collective. SpHb measurement in children is a quick procedure. The accuracy of hemoglobin measurement is insufficient for the diagnosis of anemia. Thus, whether the calculated cut-off SpHb values of this study collective can be considered for anemia screening in pediatric patients undergoing preoperative anesthesia consultation should be confirmed. Trial registration number and date of registration: This prospective study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03586141).

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BACKGROUND: The aim of this retrospective and observational study was to analyse the impact of the introduction of a goal directed transfusion (GDT) strategy based on a viscoelastic test (ROTEM®) and specific procoagulant products in a patient blood management (PBM) Program on blood product use and perioperative bleeding in a single cardiac surgery centre. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Patient population underwent cardiac surgery from 2011 to 2021 was divided in two groups based on PBM protocol used (G#11-14, years 2011-2014, G#15-21, years 2015-2021) and compared for the following variables: intraoperative and postoperative transfusions of packed red blood cell and any procoagulant products, postoperative drain blood loss volume and rate of re-exploration surgery. The second program was defined after the introduction of a GDT protocol based on viscoelastic tests and specific procoagulant products. RESULTS: After the introduction of a GDT protocol, about 80% less amongst patients were transfused with fresh frozen plasma and any procoagulant product (p < 0.001 for both phases). Moreover, similar results were obtained with PRBC transfusions (p < 0.001) and drain blood loss volume (p = 0.006) in the postoperative phase. The main factors affecting the use of any procoagulant and PBRC transfusion in the multivariate logistic regression analysis was Group (2 versus 1, OR 0.207, p < 0.001) and preoperative haemoglobin (OR 0.728, p < 0.001), respectively. DISCUSSION: In our experience, a GDT strategy for the diagnosis and treatment of the coagulopathy in patients undergone cardiac surgery led to a significant reduction in bleeding and transfusion.

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A plasma transfusion dose should be weight-based (10-20 mL/kg), which equates to three to four units in an average-sized adult; therefore, the transfusion of single units under most circumstances is sub-therapeutic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective observational study examined the prevalence of single-unit plasma transfusion in adults within a 12-hospital system from 1 January 2018, to 31 December 2019. RESULTS: During the study period, 5791 patients received plasma transfusions. The overall prevalence of single-unit plasma was 17.1% for 988 patients. The majority, 3047 (52.6%), occurred at one hospital, 2132 (36.9%) among five hospitals and 612 (10.7%) at the remaining six hospitals. Cardiac and gastrointestinal (GI)/transplant transfused 2707 (46.8%), combined respiratory, neurological, orthopaedic and congenital/dermatology/other comprised 2133 (36.9%) of the six hospitals that transfused less than 200 patients, four (66.7%) transfused single units above the overall prevalence. CONCLUSION: In this hospital system, more than one in six patients received a transfusion of a single plasma unit. Six of the 12 hospitals had 89.5% of the patients who were transfused plasma. Six service lines transfused 83.7% of all patients receiving plasma. Hospitals that infrequently transfused plasma were more likely to under-dose.

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Objectives: The FUWAI-SAVE system is a modified low-priming cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) system. The study aimed to explore whether the FUWAI-SAVE system can reduce the perioperative blood transfusion and its impact on other postoperative complications during cardiac surgery. Metohds: This study was a single-center, single-blind, randomized controlled trial, registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (identifier: ChiCTR2100050488). Adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB and intermediate risk for transfusion risk stratification were randomly assigned to an intervention group (FUWAI-SAVE group) or a control group (conventional group). The primary endpoint of the study was the peri-CPB red blood cell transfusion (RBC) rate. The secondary endpoints included the transfusion rate of other blood products, the amount of blood products transfused, the incidence of major complications, in-hospital mortality, and others. Results: 360 patients were randomized from December 9, 2021, to January 30, 2023. The rate of the primary endpoint was significantly lower in the FUWAI-SAVE group compared to the control group [ OR (95%CI): 0.649 (0.424-0.994)]. Meanwhile, the amount of RBC transfusion during the peri-CPB period was significantly lower in the FUWAI-SAVE group compared to the control group, with a mean difference of -0.626 (-1.176 to -0.076) units. The occurrence rate of major complications did not differ significantly between the two groups. Conclusions: Among adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB, the application of the FUWAI-SAVE system significantly reduced RBC transfusion rate and amount. The FUWAI-SAVE system can be considered an important component of comprehensive blood management strategies in cardiac surgery.

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BACKGROUND: Anaemia, blood loss, and blood transfusion are critical aspects of patient care in major orthopaedic surgery. We assessed hospital adherence to guideline-recommended Patient Blood Management (PBM) care, analysed variations between hospitals, and validated two composite indicators of hospital PBM performance in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included all primary TKA and THA procedures performed during 2021 across 39 hospitals in Spain. We assessed hospital adherence to key guideline-recommended PBM interventions using nine individual quality indicators and two types of composite quality indicators (cQIs): opportunity-based (cQI1) and all-or-none (cQI2). We validated these cQIs by analysing their associations with the adjusted total transfusion index using linear regression. RESULTS: We included 8561 patient episodes from 33 hospitals in the analysis. Delivery of PBM care was similar for TKA and THA. Patients received 62% of the analysed PBM interventions and only 12% of patients underwent the full PBM pathway. Higher hospital cQIs scores were associated with a lower adjusted total transfusion index, both in TKA and THA. The greatest association was found for cQI1 in THA patients (ß=-1.18 [95% confidence interval -2.00 to -0.36]; P=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Hospital adherence to guideline-recommended patient blood management care in total hip and knee arthroplasty was suboptimal and varied across centres. Using data that are widely available in hospitals, quality indicators and composite scores could become valuable tools for patient blood management monitoring and comparisons between healthcare organisations.

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BACKGROUND: Patients with hip fractures frequently need to receive perioperative transfusions of concentrated red blood cells due to preoperative anemia or surgical blood loss. However, the use of perioperative blood products increases the risk of adverse events, and the shortage of blood products is prompting us to minimize blood transfusion. Our study aimed to construct a machine learning algorithm predictive model to identify patients at high risk for perioperative transfusion early in hospital admission and to manage their patient blood to reduce transfusion requirements. METHODS: This study collected patients hospitalized for hip fractures at a university hospital from May 2016 to November 2022. All patients included in the analysis were randomly divided into a training set and validation set according to 70:30. Eight machine learning algorithms, CART, GBM, KNN, LR, NNet, RF, SVM, and XGBoost, were used to construct the prediction models. The models were evaluated for discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility, and the best prediction model was selected. RESULTS: A total of 805 patients were included in the study, of whom 306 received transfusions during the perioperative period. We screened eight features used to construct the prediction model: age, fracture time, fracture type, hemoglobin, albumin, creatinine, calcium ion, and activated partial thromboplastin time. After evaluating and comparing the performance of each of the eight models, the model constructed by the XGBoost algorithm had the best performance, with MCC values of 0.828 and 0.939 in the training and validation sets, respectively. In addition, it had good calibration and clinical utility in both the training and validation sets. CONCLUSION: The model constructed by the XGBoost algorithm has the best performance, using this model to identify patients at high risk for transfusion early in their admission and promptly incorporating them into a patient blood management plan can help reduce the risk of transfusion.

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Surgical patients are at risk of postoperative complications and mortality, necessitating preoperative patient optimization through the identification and correction of modifiable risk factors. Although preoperative platelet transfusions aim to reduce the risk of bleeding, their efficacy remains uncertain. Similarly, red blood cell transfusion in patients with anemia does not reduce the risk of postoperative mortality and may exacerbate complications. Therefore, developing individualized strategies that focus on correcting preoperative complete blood count abnormalities and minimizing transfusion requirements are essential. This review aimed to examine complete blood count abnormalities and appropriate transfusion strategies to minimize postoperative complications.

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OBJECTIVE: To compare healthcare utilization costs between anemic and nonanemic patients undergoing elective hysterectomy and myomectomy for benign indications from the date of surgery to 30 days postoperatively. DESIGN: Retrospective population-based cohort study. SETTING: Single-payer publicly funded healthcare system in Ontario, Canada between 2013 and 2020. PARTICIPANTS: Adult women (≥18 years of age) who underwent elective hysterectomy or myomectomy (laparoscopic/laparotomy) for benign indications. INTERVENTIONS: Our exposure of interest was preoperative anemia, defined as the most recent hemoglobin value <12 g/dL on the complete blood count measured before the date of surgery. Our primary outcome was healthcare costs (total and disaggregated) from the perspective of the single-payer publicly funded healthcare system. RESULTS: Of the 59 270 patients in the cohort, 11 802 (19.9%) had preoperative anemia. After propensity matching, standardized differences in all baseline characteristics (N = 10 103 per group) were <0.10. In the matched cohort, the mean total healthcare cost per anemic patient was higher compared to cost per nonanemic patient ($6134.88 ± $2782.38 vs $6009.97 ± $2423.27, p < .001). Anemic patients, compared to nonanemic patients, had a higher mean difference in total healthcare cost of $124.91 per patient (95% CI $53.54-$196.29) translating to an increased cost attributable to anemia of 2.08% (95% CI 0.89%-3.28%, p < .001). In a subgroup analysis of patients undergoing hysterectomy (N = 9041), the cost was also significantly higher for anemic patients (mean difference per patient of $117.67, 95% CI $41.58-$193.75). For those undergoing myomectomy (N = 1062) the difference in cost was not statistically significant (mean difference $186.61, 95% CI -$17.42 to $390.65). CONCLUSION: Preoperative anemia was associated with significantly increased healthcare resource utilization and costs for patients undergoing elective gynecologic surgery. Although the cost difference per case was modest, when extrapolated to the population level, this difference could result in substantially significant cost to the healthcare system, attributable to preoperative anemia.

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BACKGROUND: In the past two decades, researchers have published mortality and morbidity rates in patients with very low hemoglobin levels declining blood transfusion. The clinical knowledge and tools available for the management of patients who decline transfusions have grown since these publications. The aim of our study was to provide a further update on outcomes associated with severe anemia in these patients. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study of patients declining allogeneic blood transfusions with nadir hemoglobin levels ≤8 g/dL treated at The Institute for Blood Management, HELIOS Klinikum Gotha, Germany. Outcomes were in-hospital mortality within 30 days and composite morbidity or mortality, with morbidity events defined as acute myocardial infarction, cardiac failure, wound infection, arrhythmia, and pneumonia. RESULTS: Between June 2008 and June 2021, The Institute for Blood Management treated 2841 admissions of which 159 (5.6%) recorded nadir hemoglobin levels ≤8 g/dL. Of these, five (3.1%) patients died in hospital within 30 days, including four (4.8%) patients admitted for surgical procedures and one (1.4%) medical admission. There was a significant increase in the unadjusted proportion of composite morbidity or mortality events with severity of nadir hemoglobin, with each gram decrease in hemoglobin associated with a 1.48 (95% confidence interval = 1.05-2.09; p = .025) times increase. CONCLUSION: Our comparatively lower proportion of patients reaching hemoglobin levels ≤8 g/dL and lower mortality rates suggest outcomes in patients with severe anemia is modifiable with the application of current patient blood management and bloodless medicine and surgery strategies.

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BACKGROUND: Although Patient Blood Management (PBM) is recommended by international guidelines, little evidence of its effectiveness exists in abdominal surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefits of the implementation of a PBM protocol on transfusion incidence and anaemia-related outcomes in major urological and visceral surgery. METHODS: In this before-after study, a three-pillar PBM protocol was implemented in 2020-2021 in a tertiary care centre, including preoperative correction of iron-deficiency anaemia, intraoperative tranexamic acid administration, and postoperative restrictive transfusion. A historical cohort (2019) was compared to a prospective cohort (2022) after the implementation of the PBM protocol. The primary outcome was the incidence of red blood cell transfusion intraoperatively or within 7 days after surgery. RESULTS: Data from 488 patients in the historical cohort were compared to 499 patients in the prospective cohort. Between 2019 and 2022, screening for iron deficiency increased from 13.9% to 69.8% (p < 0.01), tranexamic acid administration increased from 9.5% to 84.6% (p < 0.01), and median haemoglobin concentration before transfusion decreased from 77 g.L-1 to 71 g.L-1 (p = 0.02). The incidence of red blood cell transfusion decreased from 11.5% in 2019 to 6.6% in 2022 (relative risk 0.58, 95% CI 0.38-0.87, p = 0.01). The incidence of haemoglobin concentration lower than 100 g.L-1 at discharge was 24.2% in 2019 and 21.8% in 2022 (p = 0.41). The incidence of medical complications was comparable between the groups. CONCLUSION: The implementation of a PBM protocol over a two-year period was associated with a reduction of transfusion in major urological and visceral surgery.

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