Red Blood Cell Transfusion: Decision Making in Pediatric Intensive Care Units

The results of the Transfusion Requirements in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit study suggest that a red blood cell transfusion is not required in stable or stabilized pediatric intensive care unit children as long as their hemoglobin level is >7 g/dL. Subgroup analyses suggest that this recommendation is also adequate for stable critically ill children with a high severity of illness, respiratory dysfunction, acute lung injury, sepsis, neurological dysfunction, severe head trauma, or severe trauma, and during the postoperative period, for noncyanotic patients older than 28 days. A small randomized clinical trial suggests that a hemoglobin level of 9 g/dL is safe in the postoperative care of children with single-ventricle physiology undergoing cavopulmonary connection. Although there is consensus that blood is clearly indicated for the treatment of hemorrhagic shock, the clinical determinants that should prompt pediatric intensivists to prescribe a red blood cell transfusion to unstable PICU children are not well characterized.