Increased Demand for Blood Transfusion in Cardiac Surgery: Simple but Unsolved Common Problem

Abstract

Background: Despite the general concern about the safety of blood transfusion and mounting evidence exist for more restrictive practice; there is no national consensus guideline and uniformity of institutions for blood transfusion associated with coronary artery bypass graft surgery in Iran. The aim of this study is an assessment of current transfusion practice and compares it with one decade ago.Method: The authors retrospectively analyzed the data of all patients undergoing elective surgery (first time operation) during one year, in two different decade interval (2003 and 2015) in a tertiary heart center.Results: A total of 801 patients were evaluated and compared (n=249 in 2015, n=552 in 2003). There is a significant increase in use of blood transfusion in both operating room and at ICU than the last decade (60.6% vs. 42.4%, P