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INTRODUCTION: Optimising the use of blood has become a core task of transfusion medicine. Because no general guidelines are available in Switzerland, we analysed the effects of the introduction of a guideline on red blood cell (RBC) transfusion for elective orthopaedic surgery. METHODS: Prospective, multicentre, before-and-after study comparing the use of RBCs in adult elective hip or knee replacement before and after the implementation of a guideline in 10 Swiss hospitals, developed together with all participants. RESULTS: We included 2,134 patients, 1,238 in 7 months before, 896 in 6 months after intervention. 57 (34 or 2.7% before, 23 or 2.6% after) were lost before follow-up visit. The mean number of transfused RBC units decreased from 0.5 to 0.4 per patient (0.1, 95% CI 0.08-0.2; p = 0.014), the proportion of transfused patients from 20.9% to 16.9% (4%, 95% C.I. 0.7-7.4%; p = 0.02), and the pre-transfusion haemoglobin from 82.6 to 78.2 g/l (4.4 g/l, 95% C. I. 2.15-6.62 g/l, p < 0.001). We did not observe any statistically significant changes in in-hospital mortality (0.4% vs. 0%) and morbidity (4.1% vs. 4.0%), median hospital length of stay (9 vs. 9 days), follow-up mortality (0.4% vs. 0.2%) and follow-up morbidity (6.9% vs. 6.0%). CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of a simple transfusion guideline reduces and standardises the use of RBCs by decreasing the haemoglobin transfusion trigger, without negative effects on the patient outcome. Local support, training, and monitoring of the effects are requirements for programmes optimising the use of blood.
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BACKGROUND: Vertebroplasty (VP) is a cost-efficient alternative to kyphoplasty. However, it is considered inferior when it comes to maintaining safety and in vertebral body (VB) height restoration. We assess the safety and efficacy of VP in alleviating pain, improving quality of life (QoL), and restoring alignment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a prospective monocenter case series, from April 2007 until July 2008, 1,422 vertebroplasties were performed, during 307 interventions, in 279 patients with traumatic, lytic, and osteoporotic fractures with 28 repeat interventions, for new fractures after the primary surgery, in 28 patients. The 226 interventions (n=203 patients) done for osteoporotic fractures were analyzed for demographics, treatment and radiographic details, pain alleviation, QoL improvement [NASS and Euroqol (EQ-5D)] and complications. RESULTS: Osteoporotic patient sample consisted of 77.8% (n=158) females with a median age of 78 years and 45 males who had the same median age. Around 69% of these patients were ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) grade 3 and above. On an average there were 1.8 VBs fractured and five VBs treated,whereas the most frequently performed cementations were in six (35.6%, n=80) or five (19.6%, n=44) levels. About 36.5%, (n=414) of the interventions were localized at the thoraco-lumbar junction (Th12-L2). On applying the Genant classification, there was a slight height reduction in 13.1% (n=29), a medium loss in 34.3% (n=78), and a severe loss of height in 52.6% (n=119). The pre-operative pain was assessed by the visual analog scale (VAS) and decreased from 56.7 to 41.4 pts after two months. Accordingly, the QoL on the EQ-5D measure (0.6 to 1) improved from 0.32 pts before surgery to 0.58 pts after two months. The pre-operative Beck index (anterior height/posterior height) improved from a mean of 0.66 preoperative to 0.80 post-operative and remained stable at two months post-operatively. There were cement leakages in 33% of the fractured VBs and in 0.8% of the prophylactically cemented VBs; there were symptoms in 7.1%, and most of them were temporary hypotension and one pulmonary cement embolism that remained asymptomatic. CONCLUSION: If routinely used, VP is a safe and efficient treatment option for osteoporotic vertebral fractures with regard to pain relief and improvement of the QoL. Even segmental re-alignment can be achieved to a certain extent with proper patient positioning.