| Methods |
Randomised controlled trial |
| Participants |
84 hip fracture participants undergoing surgical repair who had postoperative Hb levels < 10.0 g/dL were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups:
|
| Interventions |
The liberal group received 1 unit of packed RBC at the time of random assignment and as much blood as necessary to keep the Hb level above 10.0 g/dL. The restrictive group received a RBC transfusion for symptoms of anaemia or for a Hb level that dropped below 8.0 g/dL. |
| Outcomes |
Mortality, length of hospital stay, blood usage (units), complications, pneumonia, stroke, thromboembolism |
| Notes |
‐ |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Low risk |
Randomisation schedules were stratified by clinical site and cardiovascular disease state. The randomisation was designed in blocks of 2 to 8 participants to avoid imbalance within a site. |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
Study personnel at the clinical sites randomly assigned participants by contacting the data co‐ordinating centre's 24‐hour automated telephone service. |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias)
All outcomes |
Unclear risk |
There was no blinding of participants or personnel. |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
The primary outcome of mortality allowed a judgement of low risk of bias. Although function was assessed blinded, the morbidity outcomes were not assessed blindly. |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
There were minimal missing data. |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Low risk |
The trial reported all outcomes. |
| Other bias |
Low risk |
No other biases identified. |
