Grant: Operating Grant

A high proportion of patients having cardiac surgery receive red blood cell transfusions. Yet, we are not certain of when to transfuse these patients as there have not been any randomized controlled trials of red cell transfusions that can be used to guide transfusion practice. There is a risk associated with transfusing patients because of transfusion reactions and there is a risk of morbidity if a transfusion is needed and is not administered. It is thus essential to determine when to transfuse red cells to thes patients. However, as any definitive trial will require thousands of patients, and as there is variability in transfusion practices, pilot studies need to be conducted to ensure adherence to proposed transfusion strategies. We will conduct a multicentred randomised controlled pilot study of two red blood cell transfusion strategies in 200 cardiac surgery patients who are at high risk of receiving a red cell transfusion. The primary outcome is to determine adherence to transfusion strategies. The results of this study will be used to design a large definitive multicentered trial of these transfusion strategies.