Patient Blood Management
Evidence-based studies from recent decades have shown that blood transfusions carry much higher risks than previously thought. Anemia, massive blood loss, and blood transfusion are three independent risk factors that negatively affect patient outcomes. Mortality rates in transfused patients are higher, and morbidity (including cardiac, renal, respiratory, and wound complications) is more frequent. Hospital stays are longer, and the need for intensive care and treatment costs are greater.
Patient Blood Management (PBM) is a modern, evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach that aims to optimize the treatment of patients requiring blood transfusions. PBM places the patient’s own blood at the center of decision-making, aiming to achieve clinical outcomes without unnecessary transfusions of blood components.
PBM strategy is based on three pillars:
- Diagnosis and treatment of anemia
- Minimizing blood loss.
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Improving anemia tolerance through physiological reserve.
Following PBM principles reduces the patient’s:
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Allergic and immunological complications – blood transfusion is, by nature, an organ transplant, which the body may begin to react to.
Infection risk – although blood components are well-tested for four pathogens, a low but potential risk of transmission for about 30 pathogens remains.
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Risk of receiving the wrong blood – although strict procedural rules exist for blood transfusion, human error can lead to severe, even fatal, consequences.