Dr. Lehman Discusses transfusion protocols with CAP Today

Christopher Lehman, MD, assistant medical director of the University Hospitals and Clinics Clinical Laboratory, Phlebotomy and Support Services, and Transfusion Services, and an associate professor of pathology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, discusses his RBC transfusion practice study with Anne Paxton in the April 2009 issue of CAP Today. The study’s main findings indicate that transfusions meet institutional guidelines about two-thirds of the time; intraoperative hemorrhage meet the guidelines only 37.2 percent of the time.

According to Dr. Lehman, "the findings are important because they provide a current benchmark against which institutions can compare and evaluate their own transfusion guidelines and practices."

• The consensus is clear: Clinicians should take a much more cautious approach in transfusing blood products than what was once taught in medical schools. It’s now widely understood that excess transfusion of red blood cells can result in increased patient morbidity and mortality. But reversing decades of transfusion practice can be slow, and tracking progress is difficult when there isn’t much data on quality indicators. See more
  
  (CAP Today. “Easy Does It—Showing Caution with RBC Transfusions.” April 2009.)