Research article
Hospital variation in transfusion and infection after cardiac surgery: a cohort study
1 Division of General Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
2 Patient Safety Enhancement Program, Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
3 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA
4 Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence, Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
5 Institute of Gerontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
6 Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
BMC Medicine 2009, 7:37 doi:10.1186/1741-7015-7-37
Published: 31 July 2009Abstract
Background
Transfusion practices in hospitalised patients are being re-evaluated, in part due to studies indicating adverse effects in patients receiving large quantities of stored blood. Concomitant with this re-examination have been reports showing variability in the use of specific blood components. This investigation was designed to assess hospital variation in blood use and outcomes in cardiac surgery patients.
Methods
We evaluated outcomes in 24,789 Medicare beneficiaries in the state of Michigan, USA who received coronary artery bypass graft surgery from 2003 to 2006. Using a cohort design, patients were followed from hospital admission to assess transfusions, in-hospital infection and mortality, as well as hospital readmission and mortality 30 days after discharge. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression was used to calculate the intrahospital correlation coefficient (for 40 hospitals) and compare outcomes by transfusion status.
Results
Overall, 30% (95 CI, 20% to 42%) of the variance in transfusion practices was attributable to hospital site. Allogeneic blood use by hospital ranged from 72.5% to 100% in women and 49.7% to 100% in men. Allogeneic, but not autologous, blood transfusion increased the odds of in-hospital infection 2.0-fold (95% CI 1.6 to 2.5), in-hospital mortality 4.7-fold (95% CI 2.4 to 9.2), 30-day readmission 1.4-fold (95% CI 1.2 to 1.6), and 30-day mortality 2.9-fold (95% CI 1.4 to 6.0) in elective surgeries. Allogeneic transfusion was associated with infections of the genitourinary system, respiratory tract, bloodstream, digestive tract and skin, as well as infection with Clostridium difficile. For each 1% increase in hospital transfusion rates, there was a 0.13% increase in predicted infection rates.
Conclusion
Allogeneic blood transfusion was associated with an increased risk of infection at multiple sites, suggesting a system-wide immune response. Hospital variation in transfusion practices after coronary artery bypass grafting was considerable, indicating that quality efforts may be able to influence practice and improve outcomes.
