Postoperative spine surgery blood transfusion, infection — 5 key points

Spine

A recent study published in The Spine Journal examines the allogeneic blood transfusion and postoperative infection incidence in patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery.

The researchers gathered data from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. There were 3,721 patients who underwent laminectomy and/or arthrodesis of the lumbar spine and those patients were followed for 90 days after surgery.

 

Here are five key notes from the study:

 

1. There was an adjusted odds ratio for exposure to allogeneic blood transfusion from multivariable logistic regression analysis of 2.6 for any postoperative infection.

 

2. The adjusted odds ratio for exposure to allogeneic blood transfusion from multivariable logistic regression analysis for other types of infections and complications was:

 

• Urinary tract infection: 2.2
• Pneumonia: 2.3
• Surgical site infection requiring incision and draining: 2.6

 

3. There were no dose-response relationships between the number of blood units transfused and the postoperative infections.

 

4. There was a low number of other issues reported among the patients, including one case in each category here:

 

• Endocarditis
• Meningitis
• Central venous line infection

 

There were 14 cases of sepsis, which was still only 0.43 percent of the patients overall.

 

5. The study authors concluded there is "increased risk of surgical site infection, and urinary tract infection, and overall postoperative infections, but not pneumonia, after exposure to allogeneic blood transfusion in patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery."

 

The authors also suggest taking these findings into account when considering blood transfusion and developing a transfusion policy.

 

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