Blood Transfusion Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Blood Transfusion, including details on blood donation, blood types, leukemia.

Anemia in the long-term ventilator-dependent patient with respiratory failure.

Silver MR

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, 1653 West Congress Parkway, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. msilver2@rush.edu

Anemia occurs in virtually all critically ill patients receiving long-term mechanical ventilation and has been associated with increased mortality and poor outcomes. Allogeneic RBC transfusions are routinely administered to critically ill anemic patients, especially during lengthy stays in ICUs or in long-term acute care facilities. Although RBC transfusions are a physiologically rational approach to raising hemoglobin levels, they may increase the risk of complications and have been associated with higher mortality in critically ill patients. Treatment with epoetin alfa, an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent, as a means of reducing transfusion requirements has been studied in the critically ill and in patients receiving long-term mechanical ventilation. Promising results have been reported, including a potential survival benefit, although larger and more definitive studies are needed in order to establish whether raising hemoglobin levels affects clinical outcomes in patients receiving mechanical ventilation.

Published 24 November 2005 in Chest, 128(5): 568S-575S.
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