Table 3.

Clinical practice guidelines for red blood cell transfusion

RBC Transfusion
Year	Society	Recommendations	Reference
1988	National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference	<7 g/dL (acute)	JAMA 1988;260:2700.58
1992	American College of Physicians (ACP)	No number	Ann Int Med 1992;116:393–402.59
1996/2006	American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)	<6 g/dL (acute)	Anesth 1996;84:732–747.60
		No number	Anesth 2006;105:198–208.61
1997/1998	Canadian Medical Association (CMA)	No number	Can Med Assoc J 1997;156: S1–24.44 J Emerg Med 1998;16:129–31.62
1998	College of American Pathologists (CAP)	6 g/dL (acute)	Arch Path Lab Med 1998;122:130–8.63
2001/2012	British Committee for Standards in Haematology	No number	Br J Haematol 2001;113:24–31.64
		7–8 g/dLa	http://www.bcshguidelines.com/documents/BCSH_Blood_Admin_-_addendum_August_2012.pdf.65
2001	Australasian Society of Blood Transfusion	7 g/dL	http://www.nhmrc.health.gov.au.66
2007/2011	Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (CVA)	7 g/dL or 8 g/dLa	Ann Thorac Surg 2007;83:S27–86.67 Ann Thorac Surg 2011;91:944–82.68
2009	American College of Critical Care Medicine Society of Critical Care Medicine	7 g/dL	Crit Care Med 2009;37:3124–57.69
		7 g/dL	J Trauma 2009;67:1439–42.70
2011	Society for the Advancement of Blood Management	8 g/dL	Trans Med Rev 2011;232–246.71
2012	National Blood Authority, Australia	No number	http://www.nba.gov.au/guidelines/review.html.75
2012	AABB	7–8 g/dL or 8 g/dLb	Ann Int Med 2012;157:49–58.72
2012	Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomesc	No number	Kid Int 2012;2:311–316.73
2012	National Cancer Center Network (NCCN)	7–9 g/dL	JNCCN 2012;10:628–53.74

^aFor patients with acute blood loss.

^bFor patients with symptoms of end-organ ischaemia.

^cAcute coronary syndrome or cardiac bypass patients.

From Goodnough LT, Levy JH, Murphy MF. Concepts of blood transfusion in adults. Lancet 2013;381:1848; with permission.