Safeguarding the Patient's Own Blood Supply

Emergency Blood Transfusion for Trauma and Perioperative Resuscitation: Standard of Care

Uncontrolled and massive bleeding with derangement of coagulation is a major challenge in the management of both surgical and seriously injured patients. The underlying mechanism of trauma-induced or -associated coagulopathy is tissue injury in the presence of shock and acidosis provoking endothelial damage, activation of inflammation, and coagulation disbalancing. Furthermore, the combination of ongoing blood loss and consumption of blood components that are essential for effective coagulation worsens uncontrolled hemorrhage. Additionally, therapeutic actions, such as resuscitation with replacement fluids or allogeneic blood products, can further aggravate coagulopathy. Of the coagulation factors essential to the clotting process, fibrinogen is the first to be consumed to critical levels during acute bleeding and current evidence suggests that normalizing fibrinogen levels in bleeding patients improves clot formation and clot strength, thereby controlling hemorrhage. Three different therapeutic approaches are discussed controversially. Whole blood transfusion is used especially in the military scenario and is also becoming more and more popular in the civilian world, although it is accompanied by a strong lack of evidence and severe safety issues. Transfusion of allogeneic blood concentrates in fixed ratios without any targets has been investigated extensively with disappointing results. Individualized and target-controlled coagulation management based on point-of-care diagnostics with respect to the huge heterogeneity of massive bleeding situations is an alternative and advanced approach to managing coagulopathy associated with massive bleeding in the trauma as well as the perioperative setting.

Management of iron deficiency

Iron deficiency (ID) affects billions of people worldwide and remains the leading cause of anemia with significant negative impacts on health. Our approach to ID and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) involves three steps (I3): (1) identification of ID/IDA, (2) investigation of and management of the underlying etiology of ID, and (3) iron repletion. Iron repletion options include oral and intravenous (IV) iron formulations. Oral iron remains a therapeutic option for the treatment of ID in stable patients, but there are many populations for whom IV iron is more effective. Therefore, IV iron should be considered when there are no contraindications, when poor response to oral iron is anticipated, when rapid hematologic responses are desired, and/or when there is availability of and accessibility to the product. Judicious use of red cell blood transfusion is recommended and should be considered only for severe, symptomatic IDA with hemodynamic instability. Identification and management of ID and IDA is a central pillar in patient blood management.

Patient blood management as the standard of care

Blood transfusion is one of the most common hospital procedures in developed countries. However, inappropriate use of blood transfusion is common, and this is of considerable concern because transfusion is known to be associated with adverse events and is costly. Reductions in blood use have resulted from recent evidence indicating that restrictive use of red blood cell transfusions is associated with similar patient outcomes to liberal strategies and from a focus on patient blood management (PBM), which recognizes the importance of conserving the patient's own blood alongside the judicious use of transfusion. A recent Consensus Conference in Frankfurt developed practice and research recommendations for PBM but also indicated that additional studies are needed to provide better evidence for PBM interventions, including for improved patient outcomes and lower hospital costs as well as for reductions in blood utilization. In the meanwhile, it is of utmost importance to translate PBM guidelines into practical day-to-day recommendations and encourage their use to make PBM "the standard of care."