Transfusing leucocyte depleted blood may reduce hospital stay and risk of multiorgan failure in patients undergoing major surgery. Van Hilten and colleagues (p 1281) randomised 1051 patients to filtered blood or to standard care after abdominal surgery. Infection rates and duration of stay in intensive care did not differ, and the only patients in the intervention group with better survival were those who had gastrointestinal surgery. However, time spent in hospital was 2.4 days shorter and multiorgan failure was 30% less likely in the intervention group.
Figure 1.
Credit: TEK IMAGE/SPL