Survey of blood transfusion practices in cardiac surgery in Shahid Rajaie Cardiovascular hospital, Tehran, Iran

 Abstract Background and Objectives Considering with the variability in the rate of blood and blood consumption in different medical centers, study of the transfusion practices in hospitals can affect the policies and planning related to the transfusion management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the transfusion practices in Rajaie cardiovascular hospital.   Materials and Methods In this cross sectional study, we collected data from 399 adult patients underwent cardiac surgery at Ri cardiovascular medical center from February to July 2018 .The number of reserved and transfused units of blood components, frequency of transfused patients, and the frequency of blood components consumption were recorded. The frequency of transfused patients and number of blood components consumed were compared considering with the type of surgery. The data were analyzed by one way ANOVA and chi-square tests.   Results 71% (282) of patients received at least one unit of blood product. 65% (259) of patients received RBC, 21% (83) FFP and 18% (71) received platelet. Of the 749 reserved RBC units, 256 units (34%) were transfused. 25% of patients had preoperative anemia. The mean trigger of hemoglobin for transfusion was 10.3 ± 3.1 g/dL. Comparison of the frequency of transfused patients as well as mean number of blood components did not show significant difference considering with the type of surgery.   Conclusions  Considering with the high rate of transfusion in this center, following a restrictive threshold of hemoglobin according to the blood transfusion guidelines as well as implementation of a preoperative anemia management guideline and MSBOS is recommended.