Background:
Anaemia and transfusions are frequent in
critically ill patients and there are avoidable causes such as routine
laboratory tests.
Patients and
methods:
Descriptive study during one continuous week including
patients over 18-years old in a medical-surgical ICU.
Results:
18
patients were included during a week in 12
beds in our unit, median age 62,5 years, 50%
male. Median daily
blood loss was 35ml, 45% in
laboratory samples and 27% related to
renal replacement therapy. 3
patients required 1 transfusion of
red blood cells.
Conclusions:
There is a pattern of continuous
blood loss in
critically ill patients, primarily in routine
laboratory tests. (AU)