Minesh Khashu, Christof Dame, Pascal M Lavoie, Isabelle G De Plaen, Parvesh M Garg, Venkatesh Sampath, Atul Malhotra, Michael D Caplan, Praveen Kumar, Pankaj B Agrawal, Giuseppe Buonocore, Robert D Christensen, Akhil Maheshwari
Introduction: The association between red blood cell (RBC) transfusions and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), so-called transfusion-associated NEC (ta-NEC), was first described in 1987. However, further work is needed to confirm a causal relationship, elucidate underlying mechanisms, and develop possible strategies for prevention. We performed an extensive literature search in the databases PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus. Areas covered: Although multiple retrospective human studies have strongly suggested an association between blood transfusions and subsequent occurrence of NEC, meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing RBC transfusion thresholds or the use of recombinant erythropoiesis-stimulating growth factors did not confirm an association of anemia with ta-NEC...
January 2022: Newborn (Clarksville)