3. Transfusions progressively increase infection rates
By some estimates each unit of allogeneic blood increases nosocomial infection rates by 50%, so transfusing a patient with two units of blood will double the rate of hospital acquired infections. Therefore the common practice to automatically order two units of red blood cells at a time makes no sense from a resource consumption or patient safety standpoint.
Shorr AF, Duh MS, Kelly KM et al. Red blood cell transfusion and ventilator-associated pneumonia: A potential link? Crit Care Med 2004;32:666-74.
Taylor RW, Manganaro L, O’Brien J et al. Impact of allogenic packed red blood cell transfusion on nosocomial infection rates in the critically ill patient. Crit Care Med 2002;30:2249-54.
Shorr AF, Jackson WL. Transfusion practice and nosocomial infection: assessing the evidence. Curr Opin Crit Care 2005;11:468-72.
