[Haemoglobin levels and transfusion practice among Norwegian anesthesiologists]

Blood transfusions can be lifesaving, but definite transfusion triggers for different clinical situations need to be determined.

We carried out a survey among Norwegian anaesthesiologists regarding haemoglobin levels and transfusion triggers during surgery and in an intensive care setting. Blood conservation techniques were also explored. The results for surgical patients were compared with those from a similar survey in 1996.

Compared with 1996, Norwegian anaesthesiologists now accept significantly lower transfusion triggers for surgical patients. Acceptable haemoglobin levels varied in the different patient examples in both the surgical and intensive care groups. With regard to surgery, junior doctors accept a lower transfusion trigger than do senior anaesthesiologists. A more liberal transfusion strategy is apparently used in patients with coronary disease.

Norwegian anaesthesiologists have changed their attitude to acceptable transfusion triggers over the 1996-2002 period. In an intensive care setting, they appear to have a more liberal transfusion policy compared to anaesthesiologists in other western European countries.