Perioperative Blood Transfusion in Head and Neck Cancer Revisited

Objective To reevaluate the frequency of perioperative blood transfusion, transfusion triggers, and survival impact in patients with incident, surgically treated head and neck cancer (HNC) in restrictive transfusion regimens. Methods Retrospective analysis of surgically treated patients with incident HNC with and without perioperative blood transfusion between 2008 and 2019 at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of Innsbruck, according to the department's clinical Head and Neck Tumor Registry. Results Of the 590 patients included, perioperative transfusions were administered in 6.3% (n = 37, transfusion group). Following multivariable logistic regression, likelihood of blood transfusions was increased in patients with poorer general health conditions (ASA score III/IV; OR 3.7; 95% CI 1.9–8.6; p = 0.002), hemoglobin