Shorter times to packed red blood cell transfusion are associated with decreased risk of death in traumatically injured patients

Abstract

Therapeutic/care management study, level III.

Prehospital transfusion of red cell concentrates in a paramedic‐staffed helicopter emergency medical service

“…Additionally, the median transport duration in our study was 35 min, and the administration of RCCs to patients in the field therefore facilitated earlier access to RCCs than in‐hospital administration. Early administration of packed red blood cells was recently associated with reduced odds of mortality in a North American trauma system . Every 10 min delay in administration of packed red blood cells was associated with a 27% increase in the odds of mortality.…”

“…Early administration of packed red blood cells was recently associated with reduced odds of mortality in a North American trauma system. 3 Every 10 min delay in administration of packed red blood cells was associated with a 27% increase in the odds of mortality. We are unable to confirm these findings as our study does not compare mortality rates after introduction of the RCC guideline with those prior to its implementation.…”

“…In addition, prehospital red blood cell transfusion has been shown to be associated with improved early outcomes such as 24 h survival in trauma patients . Similarly, shorter time to transfusion has been associated with better survival . Positive experiences from the military setting have seen RCC administration adopted by civilian emergency medical systems …”

“…2 Similarly, shorter time to transfusion has been associated with better survival. 3 Positive experiences from the military setting [4][5][6] have seen RCC administration adopted by civilian emergency medical systems. [7][8][9][10][11] However, blood transfusions are not without side-effects.…”

Damage Control Resuscitation

“…Nevertheless, several retrospective studies have found that early administration of RBCs led to decreased mortality in severely injured patients (34–36). One study also demonstrated a decreased frequency of TIC in blunt trauma patients who received prehospital RBCsas compared to standard resuscitation methods (36), and the practice of providing prehospital blood, especially in air ambulances, appears to be growing.…”