Erythropoiesis stimulating agents, blood transfusion, and the practice of medicine

Spine tumor resection among patients who refuse blood product transfusion: a retrospective case series

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To describe the perioperative blood conservation strategies and postoperative outcomes in patients who undergo complex spinal surgery for tumor resection and who also refuse blood product transfusion.

DESIGN

A retrospective case series.

SETTING

A single-center, tertiary care and academic teaching hospital in Canada.

PATIENTS

All adult patients undergoing elective major spine tumor resection and refusing blood product transfusion who were referred to our institutional Blood Utilization Program between June 1, 2004, and May 9, 2014.

MEASUREMENTS

Data on the use of iron, erythropoietin, preoperative autologous blood donation, acute normovolemic hemodilution, antifibrinolytic therapy, cell salvage, intraoperative hypotension, and active warming techniques were collected. Data on perioperative hemoglobin nadir, adverse outcomes, and hospital length of stay were also collected.

MAIN RESULTS

Four patients who refused blood transfusion (self-identified as Jehovah's Witnesses) underwent non-emergent complex spine surgery for recurrent chondrosarcoma, meningioma, metastatic adenocarcinoma, and metastatic malignant melanoma. All patients received 1 or more perioperative blood conservation strategy including preoperative iron and/or erythropoietin, intraoperative antifibrinolytic therapy, and cell salvage. No patients experienced severe perioperative anemia (average hemoglobin nadir, 124 g/L) or anemia-related postoperative complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients who decline blood product transfusion can successfully undergo major spine tumor resection. Careful patient selection and timely referral for perioperative optimization such that the risk of severe anemia is minimized are important for success.

Evaluation and management of anemia in the elderly

Anemia is now recognized as a risk factor for a number of adverse outcomes in the elderly, including hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality. What constitutes appropriate evaluation and management for an elderly patient with anemia, and when to initiate a referral to a hematologist, are significant issues. Attempts to identify suggested hemoglobin levels for blood transfusion therapy have been confounded for elderly patients with their co-morbidities. Since no specific recommended hemoglobin threshold has stood the test of time, prudent transfusion practices to maintain hemoglobin thresholds of 9-10 g/dL in the elderly are indicated, unless or until evidence emerges to indicate otherwise.

Alternatives to blood transfusion

The use of alternatives to allogeneic blood continues to rest on the principles that blood transfusions have inherent risks, associated costs, and affect the blood inventory available for health-care delivery. Increasing evidence exists of a fall in the use of blood because of associated costs and adverse outcomes, and suggests that the challenge for the use of alternatives to blood components will similarly be driven by costs and patient outcomes. Additionally, the risk-benefit profiles of alternatives to blood transfusion such as autologous blood procurement, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, and haemostatic agents are under investigation. Nevertheless, the inherent risks of blood, along with the continued rise in blood costs are likely to favour the continued development and use of alternatives to blood transfusion. We summarise the current roles of alternatives to blood in the management of medical and surgical anaemias.

Current status of pharmacologic therapies in patient blood management

Patient blood management(1,2) incorporates patient-centered, evidence-based medical and surgical approaches to improve patient outcomes by relying on the patient's own (autologous) blood rather than allogeneic blood. Particular attention is paid to preemptive measures such as anemia management. The emphasis on the approaches being "patient-centered" is to distinguish them from previous approaches in transfusion medicine, which have been "product-centered" and focused on blood risks, costs, and inventory concerns rather than on patient outcomes. Patient blood management(3) structures its goals by avoiding blood transfusion(4) with effective use of alternatives to allogeneic blood transfusion.(5) These alternatives include autologous blood procurement, preoperative autologous blood donation, acute normovolemic hemodilution, and intra/postoperative red blood cell (RBC) salvage and reinfusion. Reviewed here are the available pharmacologic tools for anemia and blood management: erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), iron therapy, hemostatic agents, and potentially, artificial oxygen carriers.

Strategies to reduce the use of blood products: a US perspective

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To describe the recent developments in the strategies to reduce allogeneic blood transfusions with emphasis on the impact on clinical outcomes.

RECENT FINDINGS

Concerns over the safety, efficacy, and supply of allogeneic blood continue to necessitate its judicious use as the standard of care. Patient blood management is emerging as a multidisciplinary, multimodality strategy to address anemia and decrease bleeding with the goal of reduced transfusions and improved patient outcomes. Common risk factors for transfusion include anemia, blood loss, and inappropriate transfusion decisions. Several approaches are available to mitigate these. Recent data continue to support the effectiveness of various hematinics, hemostatic agents and devices, as well as intermittent discontinuation of anticoagulant therapy. Use of autotransfusion techniques, particularly cell salvage, is the other strategy with accumulating data supporting its safety and efficacy. Finally, implementation of evidence-based transfusion guidelines will help to target allogeneic blood to those patients who are likely to benefit from it and thus reduce or eliminate unnecessary exposure to blood.

SUMMARY

Patient blood management is the timely use of safe and effective medical and surgical techniques designed to prevent anemia and decrease bleeding in an effort to improve patient outcome.