
General Orthopaedics
Long-term mortality unchanged by liberal blood transfusions in older hip surgery patients
This report has been verified
by one or more authors of the
original publication.
Lancet. 2014 Dec 9. pii: S0140-6736(14)62286-8.
Two thousand and sixteen patients over the age of 50 undergoing hip fracture surgery at 47 different hospitals in the United States of America and Canada were randomized to receive either liberal blood transfusions, to maintain hemoglobin level at or above 100g/L, or restrictive blood transfusions, for patients with symptoms of anemia or if hemoglobin levels were below 80g/L. Mortality rates and cause of death of the patients who died during the trial period were determined at the end of each calendar year for an overall time of 3.1 years. Results of this study indicate that there is no significant difference in survival rates between groups, nor is there a difference in the cause of death when considered in proportion to the overall population although latent effects on cancer recurrence need further investigation.
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