Safety and Effectiveness of a Patient Blood Management (PBM) Program in Surgical Patients

A PBM program will be implemented stepwise in four University Hospitals, with the intention to optimize preoperative hemoglobin concentration of patients and to standardize transfusion practice within hemotherapy. The PBM program includes 1) an algorithm with the aim to correct preoperative anemia in elective surgery, 2) a strict indication for the transfusion of red blood cells defined by the "Cross-sectional Guidelines for Therapy with Blood Components and Plasma Derivatives" for all surgical patients, and 3) a perioperative checklist for different blood-sparing techniques (e.g. cell-saver, normothermia, reduced blood samples, point-of-care diagnostics for bedside coagulation management).

Primary endpoint: Safety of the use of PBM program will be determined by comparability of the composite outcome (in-hospital myocardial infarction, stroke, acute renal failure, death of any cause, pneumonia and sepsis until discharge from hospital) between patients treated after implementation and patients treated before implementation (control cohort) of the PBM program.

The primary composite endpoint defined as described above will be registered electronically by analysis of Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) codes. The frequency of these events will be compared between PBM and control cohort stratified by center with a one-sided Mantel-Haenszel test in a non-inferiority setting with significance level of α=2.5% and a non-inferiority margin of 1% for the incidence of the composite endpoint.

Inclusion criteria

• All non- ambulant, surgical, anesthetized patients (≥18 years)
• General Surgery, Cardiac Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Trauma Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Urology, Gynecology, Otolaryngology, Neurosurgery, Crania-Maxillofacial Surgery

Exclusion criteria

• ambulant and all non-surgical anesthetic procedures
• Surgery in the field of Dermatology or Ophthalmology