Publications by authors named "Will J Savage"
Background: The decision to transfuse red blood cells in surgical patients should be based on multiple clinical variables, rather than on isolated hemoglobin (Hb) measurements alone. An important but often unrecognized clinical variable is the postoperative downward drift in Hb concentration (Hb drift), but the etiology, predictors, and time course of Hb drift are not well understood.
Study Design And Methods: Data were retrospectively collected for patients who did not receive postoperative transfusion.
Background: The maximum surgical blood order schedule (MSBOS) is used to determine preoperative blood orders for specific surgical procedures. Because the list was developed in the late 1970s, many new surgical procedures have been introduced and others improved upon, making the original MSBOS obsolete. The authors describe methods to create an updated, institution-specific MSBOS to guide preoperative blood ordering.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A necessary component of an effective blood management program is the accurate and comprehensive collection and analysis of blood utilization data. This study describes innovative methods for analyzing and presenting data for red blood cell (RBC) utilization that compare hemoglobin (Hb) transfusion triggers and targets to those representing the restrictive transfusion strategy advocated by previous large outcome studies.
Study Design And Methods: From one institution, blood utilization data for 134,456 patients, 23,559 of whom were transfused with RBCs, were analyzed.
Background: Data can be collected for various purposes with anesthesia information management systems. The authors describe methods for using data acquired from an anesthesia information management system to assess intraoperative utilization of blood and blood components.
Methods: Over an 18-month period, data were collected on 48,086 surgical patients at a tertiary care academic medical center.