Red Blood Cell Transfusions Prove To Have An Adverse Effect On Heart Surgery Patients

Man oh man! I feel like there is always some sort of research pointing to some other type of research that has already been accepted and totally disagrees with what we have been doing for years. Do you follow? hahah.

It seems that now researchers are suggesting that transfusions among bypass surgery patients are not as favorable as we thought…

The research found patients who received a red blood cell transfusion experienced a three-fold increase in complications arising from lack of oxygen to key organs — such as in a heart attack or stroke. This is a finding at odds with the widely held belief that red cell transfusion improves delivery of oxygen to tissues.

These findings were regardless of hemoglobin levels. Over half of all heart surgery patients receive a blood transfusion during surgery as standard protocol. Next up would be more research to see if changing the parameters and guidelines makes a difference or if this is coincidental research findings.

via Science Daily