DOCUMENTS

bibliography

Association of perioperative red blood cell transfusions with all-cause and cancer-specific death in patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal cancer: Long-term outcomes from a population-based cohort

Published: March 6, 2021
Category: Bibliography
Authors: Alexis F. Turgeon, Alyson L. Mahar, Guillaume Martel, Jeannie Callum, Jesse Zuckerman, Julie Hallet, Matthew P. Guttman, Natalie Coburn, Sergio A. Acuña, Victoria Zuk, Yulia Lin
Countries: Canada
Language: English
Types: Performance Analysis, Population Health, Surgical Care
Settings: Hospital

Abstract

Background

Red blood cell transfusions are common in patients undergoing gastrointestinal cancer surgery. Yet, to adequately balance their risks and benefits, clinicians must understand how transfusions may affect long-term outcomes. We aimed to determine if perioperative red blood cell transfusions are associated with a higher risk of all-cause and cancer-specific death among patients who underwent gastrointestinal cancer resection.

Method

We identified a population-based cohort of patients who underwent gastrointestinal cancer resection in Ontario, Canada (2007–2019). All-cause death was compared between transfused and nontransfused patients using Cox proportional hazards regression while cancer-specific death was compared with competing risk regression.

Result

A total of 74,962 patients (mean age, 67.7 years; 55.4% male; 79.7% colorectal cancer) had gastrointestinal cancer surgery during the study period; 20.8% received perioperative red blood cell transfusions. Patients who received red blood cell transfusions had increased hazards of all-cause and cancer-specific death relative to patients who did not (hazard ratio: 1.39, 95% confidence interval 1.34–1.44; cause-specific hazard ratio: 1.36, 1.30–1.43). The adjusted risk of all-cause death was higher in early follow-up intervals (3–6 months postoperatively) but remained elevated in each interval over 5 years. The association persisted after restricting to patients without postoperative complications or bleeding and was robust to unmeasured confounding.

Conclusion

Red blood cell transfusion among patients with gastrointestinal cancer is associated with increased all-cause death. This was observed long beyond the immediate postoperative period and independent of short-term postoperative morbidity and mortality. These findings should help clinicians balance the risks and benefits of transfusion before well-designed trials are conducted in this patient population.

red blood cell transfusion,gastrointestinal cancer,surgical outcomes

Please log in/register to access.

Log in/Register

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

© The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Health System.
All rights reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement

Back to top