Microbiology, time course and clinical characteristics of infection in critically ill patients receiving packed red blood cell transfusion

Background and Objectives Packed red blood cell transfusion has been associated with increased infection in a variety of critically ill patient populations. We evaluated the microbiology and time course of infection in transfused patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) as no data exist on these parameters. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective review of data for all patients admitted to a 24‐bed medical‐surgical ICU at Cooper University Hospital from July 2003 to September 2006 and entered in the Project Impact database. Results A total of 2432 patients were admitted during the study period, of which 609 underwent transfusion. Transfused patients were more likely to develop a nosocomial infection (10·5% vs. 4·9%, P