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Transfusion Management in Trauma: What is Current Best Practice?

  • Trauma Surgery (N. Stassen, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

In the past few years, transfusion strategies in trauma have changed dramatically. We aim to define current practices, explore the evidence leading to these shifts, and identify areas of contemporary research within this field.

Recent Findings

Some major shifts include initiating blood products in the prehospital setting and favoring whole blood rather than individual blood components. Additional improvements include expanding trauma resuscitation to include AB plasma in untyped patients, several adjuncts given as part of massive transfusion protocols, and utilizing thromboelastography for individually tailored resuscitation. These practices remain at the forefront of trauma transfusion research with several trials completed and ongoing to establish their safety and practical value.

Summary

The degree of change over just the past few years highlights the opportunity for improvement in the field. Despite being standard of care for over a century, transfusion in trauma is still evolving to optimize patient care.

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Fig. 1

Reproduced with permission from Transfusion Vol. 61, No. S1, July 2021

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Data Availability

Not applicable.

References

Recent papers of particular interest have been highlighted as: • Of importance, •• Of major importance

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  1. Division of Trauma and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PUH F1266.2, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Jamison Beiriger, David Silver, Liling Lu & Joshua B. Brown

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Concept and design: JB, JBB. Drafting of the manuscript: JB, JBB. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: JB, DS, LL, JBB. Administrative, technical, or material support: DS, LL, JBB. Supervision: JBB.

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Beiriger, J., Silver, D., Lu, L. et al. Transfusion Management in Trauma: What is Current Best Practice?. Curr Surg Rep 11, 43–54 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40137-023-00352-1

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