Epidemiology of blood transfusion in the Spanish Critical Care Units: «Transfusion Day

To describe the transfusion practice in the ICUs in Spain, according to national and international recommendations (guidelines). Prospective, cross-sectional, multi-centre study. Data collection was carried out by means of a questionnaire sent electronically to the Heads of Service of 111 ICUs in Spain. 1,448 patients were included, aged 61.8 (SD 15.7) years, 66.2% male, with an SOFA of 4.7±3.8 and average stay of 10.62±17.49 days. Demographic and clinical variables of the patients were collected, as well as variables related to the transfusion act. Of the 1,448 patients, 9.9% received al least one transfusion of any blood product, 3.7% fresh plasma, 3.9% platelets and 8.9% red blood cell concentrate, mainly by analytical criteria (36.2%). Hemoglobin had a mean of 7.8g/dL (95% CI: 6-9-8.5) and 9.8g/dL (95% CI: 8.5-11.2) before and after the transfusion, respectively, p