Transfusión en Cuidados Paliativos de pacientes oncológicos. ¿Qué aporta la literatura?

Introduction: the utility of literature in taking decisions about performing transfusions to oncologic palliative patients has been evaluated. Material and method: we have performed a search in MEDLINE (1966-May 2002) using "Palliative Care" and "Transfusion" as key words, selecting those articles in Spanish and English in which transfusion to oncologic palliative patients is the main subject of the article. Results: seventy-four articles were initially obtained; 15 were not acceptable as they were written in idioms other than Spanish or English; 47 were rejected because they were not referred to Palliative Care, were not based on oncologic patients, or transfusion was contemplated only as a secondary aspect to the main subject of the article; and finally, 12 articles were selected as a source of new articles and for obtaining conclusions. Conclusions: conclusions that can be obtained from the literature search were: a) publications on this subject are rare; b) no studies on the use of erythropoietin in these patients have been published; c) transfusion is not necessarily performed at hospitals; d) the percentage of patients who are transfusion dependent is low and the real value of transfusions in these patients is not well established; e) a relationship between transfusion dependency and shorter life prognosis has been demonstrated; and f) transfusion is one of the ethical dilemmas caregivers of patients included in palliative programs must face.