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Restrictive transfusion strategy in CV surgery doesn't raise long-term risk
Mazer CD et al. N Engl J Med. 2018 Aug 26. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1808561
Key clinical point: A restrictive transfusion strategy during cardiovascular surgery, versus a more traditional liberal approach, did not increase the risk of poor outcomes at 6 months.
Major finding: At 6 months, 17.4% of patients in the restrictive arm, versus 17.1% in the liberal-threshold group, met the primary composite outcome of death from any cause, myocardial infarction, stroke, or new onset renal failure with dialysis (P = .006 for noninferiority with the restrictive approach).
Study details: Randomized, multicenter trial with over 5,000 surgery patients
Disclosures: The work was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, among others. The lead investigator had no relevant disclosures.
Mazer CD et al. N Engl J Med. 2018 Aug 26. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1808561