Transfusion Guidelines in Adult Spine Surgery: A Systematic Review and Critical Summary of Currently Available Evidence

Spine surgery is one of the fastest expanding surgical specialties in the United States. [1, 2] In an aging population with improving life expectancy, there is an increasing number of complex spinal procedures such as reconstruction for degenerative scoliosis and vertebral tumor resection that are performed every year. [1, 2] Such procedures are commonly associated with significant blood loss, both intra- and post-operatively, and often require multiple transfusions of red blood cells (RBC). Due to the well-established risk profile associated with blood transfusion, several studies across multiple specialties have investigated hemoglobin and hematocrit transfusional thresholds.

Source: The Spine Journal - August 2, 2021 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Umaru Barrie, Carl A. Youssef, Mark N. Pernik, Emmanuel Adeyemo, Mahmoud Elguindy, Zachary D. Johnson, Tarek Y. El Ahmadieh, Omar S. Akbik, Carlos A. Bagley, Salah G. Aoun Source Type: research