Preoperative anemia associated with worse surgical outcomes

---in this much talked about study. Although the differences in outcomes between those with and without anemia held up to severity adjustment it's tempting to think that anemia was a marker of something else going on in the patient (infection, inflammation?) that may have impacted outcomes rather than a reduced oxygen carrying capacity. This will be studied further. We don't have an answer about whether a more aggressive transfusion strategy is warranted.


Via Hospital Medicine Quick Hits.