Anemia
What is anemia?
Anemia is a decrease in hemoglobin (Hb) concentration below age and gender-specific reference ranges. According to the World Health Organization’s definition, the normal Hb threshold is 120 g/L for women and 130 g/L for men.
Anemia may be caused by bleeding, erythrocyte destruction (hemolysis), or insufficient erythrocyte production (deficient hematopoiesis). Common causes include iron deficiency due to blood loss, diet, or chronic disease, or deficiencies in vitamin B12 or folic acid.
Why treat anemia?
Systematic studies show that preoperative anemia is associated with higher morbidity and mortality rates. Preoperative anemia increases the likelihood of blood transfusion and its associated risks, as well as prolongs hospital stay.
Most anemias are causally treatable within three to four weeks and do not require blood transfusion. Therefore, in the case of planned surgery, the patient’s condition should be assessed at least one month prior to the procedure to allow sufficient time for anemia treatment.
One dose transfusion
A single dose of red blood cell suspension transfusion is a practice in transfusion medicine where one dose is ordered for a stable, non-bleeding patient.
The implementation of this new transfusion practice is one of the foundations of patient blood management, in contrast to the historically established clinical habit of transfusing two doses of red blood cell suspension at once.
Since blood transfusion is a living tissue transplant, the risks associated with it are dose-dependent, meaning that each transfused dose increases the likelihood of side effects.