Retrospective cohort study of neonatal blood transfusion in China

Blood transfusion therapy is extremely important for certain neonatal diseases, but the threshold for neonatal blood transfusion is not the same in different countries. Until now, clinical studies to determine the suitable threshold for newborns in China are lacking. Therefore, it is of high importance to establish a multi-center cohort study to explore appropriate transfusion thresholds for newborns in China. This retrospective cohort study investigated neonatal blood transfusion therapy administered from January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, with the aim of evaluating the effect of restricted and nonrestricted blood transfusion on neonatal health. The subjects were enrolled in 46 hospitals in China. A total of 5669 neonatal cases were included in the study. Clinical diagnosis and transfusion treatment of these neonates were collected and the data were retrospectively analyzed. The neonates were followed up 1 week and 1 month after leaving the hospital. The newborns' and their mothers' data were collected containing 280 variables in the database. The primary outcome of the study was mortality, and the secondary outcomes were complications, hospital stays, NICU hospital stays and hospital costs. Results from the