20 July 2026 (Monday) - Transfusion Evidence Library Update

Tranexamic acid again !!

The article about alloimmunization in sickle cell patients was interesting. In the study a third of them had formed antibodies. Clearly people on long-term transfusions should have blood matched as closely as possible…

I’m reminded of a thread I saw on one of the work-related Facebook pages which was talking about artificial oxygen carriers. If ever there was a cohort of patients that could use them…

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

Hospital policy of tranexamic acid to reduce transfusion in major noncardiac surgery. Houston, B.L., et al. (2026). The New England Journal of Medicine.
PICO SUMMARY

 

 

TOP ARTICLES

Global prevalence of alloimmunization in adults with sickle cell disease receiving red blood cell transfusions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Alsalman, M., et al. (2026). Journal of Clinical Medicine.

Effect of continuous non-invasive hemoglobin monitoring on blood transfusion and mortality in hip surgeries: a randomized controlled study.
Dinçer Yeşilnacar, M.E., et al. (2026). Journal of Clinical Practice and Research.

Oral or parenteral iron supplementation to reduce deferral, iron deficiency and/or anaemia in blood donors.
Geneen, L.J., et al. (2026). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Clinical trial: predicting response to iron therapy in patients with active inflammatory bowel disease using hepcidin and functional iron indices: a multicentre randomised trial.
Koppelman, L.J.M., et al. (2026). Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

Clinical efficacy of different blood purification modes on severe acute pancreatitis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Li, P., et al. (2026). Frontiers in Medicine.

Effect of tranexamic acid for acute spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.
Menon, C.S., et al. (2026). Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. [Record in progress].

Artificial Intelligence-based predictive models for adverse blood donor reactions: a systematic review of immediate and delayed events and clinical data approaches.
ShojaeiBaghini, M., et al. (2026). BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. [Record in progress].

The effect of active warming and conventional body temperature management on perioperative blood loss and coagulation function in patients undergoing scoliosis correction: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.
Yan, W., et al. (2026). European Spine Journal. [Record in progress].

 

 

25 June 2026 (Thursday) - Transfusion Evidence Library

The nice people at the Transfusion Evidence Library sent their update today. A couple of articles caught my eye…

The use of blood transfusions in trauma cases before hospital admission didn’t seem to have much of an effect on final outcome… I suppose that if someone is in such desperate need of a transfusion that we can skip all of the safety protocols they aren’t going to be likely to survive the trauma.

But what really made me think was the article about the transportation and large-scale long-distance airdrops of blood. These days we document every single thing that every happens to a unit of blood. Back in the day things weren’t quite so tight… it would seem that things weren’t as bad then as we’ve now been led to believe…

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

Prehospital resuscitation with type O whole blood for trauma and hemorrhage.
Sperry, J.L., et al. (2026). The New England Journal of Medicine.
PICO SUMMARY

 

 

TOP ARTICLES

Early erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in preterm or low-birthweight infants.
Anarna, K., et al. (2026). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Clinical outcomes of intravenous albumin administration after acute variceal hemorrhage in patients with cirrhosis: an open-label, randomized controlled trial.
Biswas, S., et al. (2026). Digestive Diseases and Sciences.

Platelet transfusion thresholds for thrombocytopenic infants.
Chotas, W., et al. (2026). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

A prospective, randomized, multicenter trial comparing lactated Ringer's alone or with 5% albumin for resuscitation of large burns The Acute Burn ResUscitation Multicenter Prospective Trial 2 (ABRUPT2).
Greenhalgh, D.G., et al. (2026). Annals of Surgery. [Record in progress].

The clinical use of cryoprecipitate and fibrinogen concentrate: a scoping review.
Hess, A.S., et al. (2026). Transfusion. [Record in progress].

Convalescent plasma for people with COVID-19.
Iannizzi, C., et al. (2026). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Thromboelastography (TEG) or thromboelastometry (ROTEM) to monitor haemostatic treatment versus usual care in adults or children with bleeding.
Kvisselgaard, A.D., et al. (2026). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

A study on the impact of blood large-scale long-distance airdrop on storage quality of suspended red blood cells.
Liu, L., et al. (2026). Transfusion. [Record in progress].

Efficacy and safety of albumin combined with endovascular therapy in the treatment of patients with acute ischemic stroke: a randomized clinical trial.
Liu, Y., et al. (2026). Nature Communications.

Approaches to guide red blood cell transfusion in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Pinedo-Avila, J.B., et al. (2026). Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. [Record in progress].

Impact of Rh five-antigen-matched transfusion on alloimmunization and clinical outcomes in patients requiring repeated red blood cell transfusions: a prospective randomized controlled study.
Xie, X., et al. (2026). Frontiers in Medicine.

Prophylactic tranexamic acid for the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage in women with placenta praevia: multicentre, double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, phase 3 trial.
Zhang, L., et al. (2026). BMJ.

21 May 2026 (Thursday) - Transfusion Evidence Library Update

The nice people at the Transfusion Evidence Library sent their update today. As always there was too much to take in at one sitting:

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

Intravenous ferric carboxymaltose versus oral ferrous sulphate for the treatment of moderate-to-severe postpartum anaemia in Nigerian women (IVON-PP): an open-label, randomised controlled trial.
Afolabi, B.B., et al. (2026). The Lancet. Global Health.
PICO SUMMARY

 

 

TOP ARTICLES

Angio-Seal plug-based versus dual ProGlide for transfemoral hemostasis in transcatheter aortic valve replacement: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Alnomani, Y.R., et al. (2026). Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis. [Record in progress].

Low-dose vs. standard care Iv human albumin during large-volume paracentesis in patients with liver cirrhosis: a systematic review.
Bot, K., et al. (2026). Liver International.

The efficacy of interactive communication interventions for motivating blood donation: a systematic review.
Boult, L., et al. (2026). Vox Sanguinis. [Record in progress].        

Red blood cell transfusion in neurocritical patients: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.
Fu, Y., et al. (2026). BMC Anesthesiology.

Effect of donor exclusion criteria on blood safety and volume of donations: a systematic review of modelling studies.
Mosselmans, L., et al. (2026). Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

Blood donation and subjective wellbeing: a cross-sectional survey and a randomized trial.
Ou-Yang, J., et al. (2026). Frontiers in Psychology.

Therapeutic plasma exchange improves short-term survival in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure: a randomized controlled trial.
Swaroop, S., et al. (2026). Hepatology. [Record in progress].           

The effect of stress ball and music on anxiety, distress, and pain levels during platelet apheresis donation: randomized controlled trial.
Urtekin, D., et al. (2026). Transfusion Medicine Reviews. [Record in progress].

5 May 2026 (Tuesday) - Transfusion Evidence Library Update

The nice people at the Transfusion Evidence Library sent their update today. As always it boggled my poor brain. It was a lot to take in…

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

Prehospital whole blood in traumatic hemorrhage - a randomized controlled trial.
Smith, J.E., et al. (2026). The New England Journal of Medicine. [Record in progress].
PICO SUMMARY

 

 

TOP ARTICLES

Romiplostim versus placebo for chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia.
Al-Samkari, H., et al. (2026). The New England Journal of Medicine.

Impact of feeding strategies during red blood cell transfusion on cerebral and splanchnic oxygenation in preterm infants: randomized pilot study.
Aslan Tuncay, S., et al. (2026). Journal of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. [Record in progress].

Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents to reduce heart failure hospitalization: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Bunting, K.V., et al. (2026). European Journal of Heart Failure.

Substantial international variation in the cost of blood group and save and crossmatch: a systematic review.
Fabiano, G., et al. (2026). British Journal of Haematology.

Statistically significant results favored in abstracts of platelet rich plasma treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and spin analysis.
Fullano, G.D., et al. (2026). Arthroscopy.

Clinical and economic outcomes of therapeutic plasma exchange and intravenous immunoglobulin for treating adults with autoimmune neurological disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Kimber, C., et al. (2026). BMC Neurology.

Blood donation practices and behavioral intentions: a scoping review using the theory of planned behavior.
Lakew, G., et al. (2026). PLoS One.

Prophylactic haemostatic treatment to control iatrogenic bleeding during endobronchial biopsy (PROTECT study): a multicentre, randomised, single-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Li, B., et al. (2026). Chest. [Record in progress].

Artificial intelligence implementation in transfusion medicine: addressing the challenges of clinical adoption.
Maynard, S., et al. (2026). Transfusion Medicine Reviews.

Albumin replacement therapy in septic shock: a randomized clinical trial.
Sakr, Y., et al. (2026). JAMA Network Open.

 

30 March 2026 (Monday) - Transfusion Evidence Library Update

The nice people at the Transfusion Evidence Library sent their update today. As always there was so much as to boggle my poor brain, but the second to last article made me think. It is very easy to think that blood science is what I do, and that it probably happens in a few hospitals nearby.

It’s world-wide and what happens in other parts of the world can be very different. In over forty years I’ve only ever heard of one case of malaria being transmitted by blood transfusion… in some parts of Africa nearly one donor in five has malaria…

   ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

Preventive interventions for vasovagal reactions in whole blood donors: a cluster-randomised, stepped-wedge, crossover trial of 73 sites involving 1·4 million donors in England.
Kaptoge, S., et al. (2026). The Lancet. Haematology.
PICO SUMMARY

 

 

TOP ARTICLES

N-acetylcysteine reduces incidence and duration of linezolid-associated thrombocytopenia in critically ill patients: a randomized controlled trial.
Abdeltawab, M., et al. (2026). Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology.

Interventions to prevent intraventricular haemorrhage in preterm neonates: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Bhanushali, M., et al. (2026). Neonatology. [Record in progress].            

Recombinant factor VIIa versus placebo for spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage within 2 h of symptom onset (FASTEST): a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial.
Broderick, J.P., et al. (2026). Lancet.

Antifibrinolytics (lysine analogues) for the prevention of bleeding in people with haematological disorders.
Champaneria, R., et al. (2026). The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Use of albumin in patients with hepatic encephalopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies with trial sequential analysis.
Coan, A.C.C., et al. (2026). Hepatology Forum.

Comparative efficacy of prehospital resuscitation strategies on mortality for patients with major trauma: a network meta-analysis.
Hsu, C.W., et al. (2026). European Journal of Emergency. [Record in progress].

Randomized, sham-controlled trial of intraoperative ticagrelor removal to reduce perioperative bleeding.
Mack, M.J., et al. (2026). The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. [Record in progress].

Global burden of asymptomatic malaria among blood donors: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Malede, B., et al. (2026). BMC Infectious Diseases.

Comparison of safety and efficacy of liberal versus restrictive red blood cell transfusion thresholds on the quality of life in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Mandal, S., et al. (2026). Annals of Hematology.