preoperative transfusion surgery

INTRODUCTION: Every experienced surgeon has a patient whose life was saved by a blood transfusion (the "good"). In contrast, an overwhelming amount of evidence suggests that perioperative blood transfusion can be associated with adverse surgical outcomes (the "bad"). We wondered what patient characteristics, if any, can explain this clinical dichotomy with certain patients benefiting from transfusion, whereas others are harmed by this intervention. METHODS: We queried the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project database containing patient information entered between 2010 and 2012 to identify differences in mortality and morbidity among patients receiving blood transfusion within 72 hours of their operative procedure compared with those who did not receive any blood...