A commentary on three consensus development conferences on transfusion medicine

Summary The panel's conclusions were specific, stating that the available evidence does not support the use of a single criterion such as 10 g/30% and that there is no evidence that mild to moderate anemia contributes to perioperative morbidity. Due to the risk of disease transmission and immune changes, homologous transfusion should be minimized. A variety of promising alternatives to homologous transfusion are being developed and will decrease the use of homologous blood products. “However, in the foreseeable future homologous blood transfusion will continue to be the therapeutic mainstay… Future research is necessary to define the best indications for red cell transfusion and the safest methods of blood conservation and delivery.”