Guidelines for Patient Blood Management and Blood Utilization

In the name of patient safety and optimal outcomes, blood management and utilization concepts reach across diverse areas of transfusion medicine, from physician education and auditing to surgical techniques and topical hemostatics, to include all aspects of the transfusion decision-making process. Representing a major revision of the Guidelines for Blood Utilization Review (AABB, 2001), this Guideline assists facilities in developing strategies that provide for the appropriate use of blood and the use of alternatives that help to reduce or avoid the need for allogeneic blood transfusion. A multidisciplinary approach is advocated that includes the use of blood component guidelines, pharmaceutical preparations to minimize blood loss, blood conservation methods, and blood utilization review practices. Some highlights include: The transfusion review process, including thresholds and assessments.Nonsurgical as well as preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative strategies.The blood utilization review process, including the development of facility-specific guidelines and quality improvement.Auditing of blood utilization, including criteria for a wide range of components and situations.