The Transfusion Triggers in Vascular Surgery Trial

Summary

BACKGROUND * Vascular surgical patients often receive red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in the peri-operative period * RBC transfusion may lead to improved outcome but on the other hand the intervention may be harmful * Danish Health and Medicines Authority recommends transfusion of RBC at hemoglobin below 5 mmol/L while local clinical guidelines recommend transfusion of RBC to maintain hemoglobin levels above 6 mmol/L * A large randomized clinical trial is needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of RBC transfusion in patients undergoing vascular surgery. * A trial examining the effect of RBC transfusion on tissue oxygenation is used to test the trial-design and feasibility for a trial evaluating post-operative mortality and morbidity.

Timeline

Start

2015-07-15

Primary completion

2016-12-08

Completion

2017-01-09

Publications

• Carson JL, Stanworth SJ, Dennis JA, Fergusson DA, Pagano MB, Roubinian NH, Turgeon AF, Valentine S, Trivella M, Doree C, Hebert PC. Transfusion thresholds and other strategies for guiding red blood cell transfusion. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2025 Oct 20;10(10):CD002042. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002042.pub6.
• Carson JL, Stanworth SJ, Dennis JA, Trivella M, Roubinian N, Fergusson DA, Triulzi D, Doree C, Hebert PC. Transfusion thresholds for guiding red blood cell transfusion. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Dec 21;12(12):CD002042. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002042.pub5.
• Moller A, Nielsen HB, Wetterslev J, Pedersen OB, Hellemann D, Winkel P, Marcussen KV, Ramsing BGU, Mortensen A, Jakobsen JC, Shahidi S. Low vs high hemoglobin trigger for transfusion in vascular surgery: a randomized clinical feasibility trial. Blood. 2019 Jun 20;133(25):2639-2650. doi: 10.1182/blood-2018-10-877530. Epub 2019 Mar 11.

Drugs

Indications