Mortality associated with standard prescription transfusions in cardiac surgery.

Background: Before applying new blood management strategies, the extent of blood product transfusions and its correlation with perioperative mortality should be identified.

Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed the extent of perioperative transfusions of red blood cells (RBC), fresh frozen plasma (FFP), and platelets (PLT) in 565 consecutive cardiac surgery patients, who received transfusions based on standard prescriptions. Patients were stratified in four groups according to perioperative transfusion units (no transfusion, <5, 5-10, >10 units).