Mortality and morbidity of low-grade red blood cell transfusions in septic patients: a propensity score-matched observational study of a liberal transfusion strategy

Nilsson, Caroline Ulfsdotter; Bentzer, Peter; Andersson, Linnéa E.; Björkman, Sofia A.; Hanssson, Fredrik P.; Kander, Thomas

doi:10.1186/s13613-020-00727-y

Annals of Intensive Care

Table 1 Patient demographics before and after propensity matching

From: Mortality and morbidity of low-grade red blood cell transfusions in septic patients: a propensity score-matched observational study of a liberal transfusion strategy

	Unmatched groups		Standardized difference	P value	Propensity-matched groups		Standardized difference	P value
	Control N = 405	RBC^aN = 459	Standardized difference	P value	Control N = 237	RBC N = 237	Standardized difference	P value
Pre-existing conditions
Age, mean (SD^b)	64 (16)	65 (15)	0.047	0.490	65 (15)	65 (15)	0.010	0.914
Male gender, no (%)	233 (57)	234 (51)	0.131	0.054	130 (55)	138 (58)	0.068	0.460
Blood malignancy^c, no (%)	16 (4.4)	42 (9.2)	0.187	0.007	12 (5.1)	14 (5.9)	0.037	0.687
COPD^d, no (%)	42 (10) (0.305)	52 (11)	0.030	0.652	29 (12)	28 (12)	0.013	0.888
Cirrhosis, no (%)	17 (4.2)	12 (2.6)	0.087	0.198	11 (4.6)	8 (3.4)	0.065	0.483
Immunosuppression^e, no (%)	30 (7.4)	54 (12)	0.148	0.031	18 (7.6)	19 (8.0)	0.016	0.864
Malignancy^f, no (%)	43 (11)	73 (16)	0.156	0.023	31 (13)	33 (14)	0.025	0.789
Nosocomial infection^g, no (%)	33 (8.1)	44 (9.6)	0.051	0.460	21 (8.9)	24 (10)	0.043	0.639
Airway infection, no (%)	112 (28)	116 (25)	0.054	0.428	63 (27)	63 (27	0	1.000
Surgery^h, no (%)	64 (16)	99 (22)	0.148	0.031	40 (17)	48 (20)	0.087	0.346
GIⁱ-bleeding, no (%)	0 (0)	6 (1.3)	0.163	0.021	0 (0)	0 (0)	0.000	1.000
DIC^j, no (%)	25 (6.2)	33 (7.2)	0.041	0.552	19 (8.0)	14 (5.9)	0.083	0.368
I.C.^k volume effect, no (%)	2 (0.5)	4 (0.9)	0.046	0.505	2 (0.8)	2 (0.8)	0	1.000
Physiological and laboratory variables at admission^l, mean (SD)
Heart rate, mean (SD)	107 (23)	109 (24)	0.085	0.216	106 (23)	106 (25)	0.013	0.889
SBP^m, (mmHg)	108 (30)	107 (29)	0.052	0.450	107 (30)	108 (31)	0.044	0.634
Lactate (mmol/L)	3.4 (3.2)	3.5 (2.7)	0.027	0.691	3.4 (3.2)	3.4 (2.7)	0	0.996
Norepinephrine (µg/min)	7.0 (12)	11.6 (20)	0.285	< 0.001	9.0 (13)	7.7 (11)	0.108	0.241
Temperature (°Celcius)	37.4 (1.5)	37.4 (1.4)	0.035	0.617	37.3 (1.5)	37.3 (1.4)	0.007	0.940
PaO₂/FiO₂ (kPa)	23 (15)	22 (16)	0.040	0.588	23 (15)	22 (15)	0.040	0.665
Leucocytes (× 10⁹/L)	16 (18)	14 (19)	0.093	0.197	16 (20)	15 (20)	0.038	0.683
Platelets (× 10⁹/L)	188 (130)	182 (135)	0.044	0.517	187 (129)	185 (120)	0.018	0.845
pH	7.13 (1.5)	7.31 (0.50)	0.261	<0.001	7.34 (0.12)	7.34 (0.11)	0.042	0.647
Bilirubin (µmol/L)	24 (35)	25 (46)	0.010	0.891	24 (33)	26 (50)	0.053	0.561
Creatinine (µmol/L)	172 (126)	180 (141)	0.063	0.360	181(130)	175 (133)	0.042	0.645
PT/INRⁿ	1.58 (0.85)	1.62 (0.82)	0.040	0.550	1.58 (0.70)	1.59 (0.78)	0.005	0.956
APTT^o (sec)	42 (19)	45 (17)	0.178	0.009	43 (18)	42 (14)	0.050	0.586

^aLow-grade red blood cell transfusion defined as < 670 ml any of the first 5 days
^bStandard deviation
^cLymphoma, acute leukaemia or myeloma
^dChronic obstructive pulmonary disease
^eChronic steroid treatment correlative to ≥ 0.3 mg/kg prednisolone/day, radiation, or chemo therapy
^fCancer spread beyond the regional lymph nodes
^gInfection that developed after ≥ 48 h in hospital or secondary to surgical or medical procedure
^hBefore admission to intensive care
ⁱGastro-intestinal
^jDisseminated intravascular coagulopathy
^kIntra-cranial
^lFirst value within 90 min after admission except for “Norepinephrine” which is the mean dose the first 12 h
^mSystolic blood pressure
ⁿProthrombin time
^oActivated partial thromboplastin time

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