The Team Focus on Improving Blood Transfusion

Abstract

The current literature pertaining to associated morbidity and mortality with homologous blood transfusion in the surgical patient seems to be pointing only in one direction, which is we must start reducing our patients exposure to homologous blood and products. There appears to be ever mounting evidence of increases in infraction, stroke, transfusion related lung injury, infection, and death that authors are associating with transfusion. A number of authors are reporting success in reducing their patients’ requirements for homologous transfusion simply by working as a team or what is known as a multidisciplinary approach and following set transfusion protocols and algorithms. At our institution we have taken note of these reports and have taken the first steps in the formation of a Cardiac Surgical Transfusion Management Group where all specialties involved in the decision making process of transfusion in the cardiac surgical patient can have representation and be directly involved in the establishment of protocols, transfusion algorithms, and a transfusion audit system. The main goal of this group is to implement a change in transfusion practice and to assess the impact the change has had on transfusion requirements and make appropriate recommendations to the treating specialists.