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Erythropoietin in the critically ill

  • Conference paper
Anaesthesia, Pain, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine — A.P.I.C.E.

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Abstract

The issues surrounding red blood cell (RBC) transfusion are important in the critically ill. Anaemia is very common in the critically ill; almost 95% of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) have a haemoglobin level below normal by ICU day 3 [1]. As a result, critically ill patients receive a significant number of RBC transfusions during their ICU stay. Studies almost a decade ago found that over 50% of all patients admitted to the ICU were transfused during their ICU stay [2]. Among patients with a prolonged ICU stay (greater than 1 week), 85% received a transfusion [3]. On average, these latter patients were each transfused with over 9 units of RBCs during their ICU admission. These transfusions were not restricted to the early ICU course, but rather were transfused at a rate of 2 to 3 units per week. In a descriptive study of critical care units in the United States [4], on a single day almost 14% of patients in critical care units are transfused (ranging from 4% in CCUs to 27% in SICUs).

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Authors
  1. H. L. Corwin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Perioperative Medicine, Intensive Care and Emergency, Trieste University School of Medicine, Trieste, Italy

    Antonino Gullo M.D. (Head) (Head)

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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Italia, Milano

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Corwin, H.L. (2004). Erythropoietin in the critically ill. In: Gullo, A. (eds) Anaesthesia, Pain, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine — A.P.I.C.E.. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2189-1_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2189-1_24

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Milano

  • Print ISBN: 978-88-470-0235-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-88-470-2189-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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