HISTORY AND OBJECTIVES: Many factors influence the indication of blood transfusion for critical ill patients. Nevertheless there are few studies concerning the transfusion of blood components in patients under intensive care. This study is aimed at analyzing the rate and the transfusion incidence-density of red blood cells (RBC) in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the University Hospital of Federal University of Santa Catarina and to describe the clinical criteria and the haemoglobin values applied to indicate transfusions. METHOD: For this study, patients admitted into the ICU between January 2003 and December 2004 were included. RESULTS: A total of 654 patients were studied. From those 108 (16.51%) received RBC transfusions with an incidence-density of 3.8 per 100 patients day. RBC was the most commonly used blood component (257 transfusions were performed using 549 RBC units). The criterion most frequently used for RBC transfusion was a low haemoglobin level (58%). Pre-transfusion haemoglobin levels lower than 7.0 g/dL were observed in 51.75% patients. ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS: Over the last 15 years many authors found that RBC transfusion percentages in the ICU were between 19 and 85%. Currently, RBC transfusion is indicated for haemoglobin levels of less than 7.0 g/dL and transfusions should be avoided when the level is higher than 10.0 g/dL. In the ICU of the University Hospital, RBC is the most commonly used blood component with a lower percentage when compared to ICUs of other institutions. Low haemoglobin levels with pre-transfusion values less than 7.0 g/dL is the main criterion to indicate this conduct.
Erythrocyte transfusion; Intensive care units; Blood
