Implementation of a restrictive blood transfusion protocol in a gynecologic oncology service.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a restrictive blood transfusion protocol in a postoperative gynecologic oncology population. The primary objective was the rate of blood transfusions after surgery before and after implementation of a restrictive transfusion protocol (from July 1 2011 to December 30 2016). Secondary outcomes were patient morbidity and included rates of surgical site infection, pneumonia, sepsis, unplanned intubation, prolonged ventilator use, renal insufficiency, acute renal failure, urinary tract infection, cerebral vascular accident, cardiac complications, venous thromboembolism, and death within 30 days of surgery, readmissions and length of stay.

Methods: A restrictive blood transfusion protocol was implemented by the gynecologic oncology service at a National Comprehensive Cancer Network designated Comprehensive Cancer Center on January 1, 2014. The restrictive protocol required that no patient receive a blood transfusion for hemoglobin greater than 7.0 g/dL (or hematocrit greater than 21.0%) and that all red blood cells were administered in one unit increments followed by re-evaluation of blood parameters. Exceptions to this protocol were postoperative symptomatic anemia, intraoperative or day of surgery transfusion, active bleeding, postoperative severe sepsis, postoperative active coronary ischemia, and postoperative transfusion after 1.5 liter or greater blood loss.

Results: 1482 patients were identified for this study (755 in the pre-protocol group and 727 in the post-protocol group). Patients treated under the restrictive protocol had decreased rates of red blood cell transfusion (11.0% 5.9% p<0.001), superficial surgical site infection (7.7% 4.1% p=0.005), deep surgical site infection (2.3% 0.7% p=0.02), and median length of stay (3.0 days 2.0 days p<0.001).

Conclusions: A restrictive blood transfusion protocol is associated with reductions in the rates of blood transfusions and postoperative morbidity with a 46.8% reduction in superficial surgical site infection and a 69.6% decrease in deep surgical site infection in the gynecologic oncology patient population.