Negative effects of transfused blood components after hepatectomy for metastatic colorectal cancer

There has been conflicting evidence regarding negative effects of blood transfusion in oncology patients. This study was undertaken to determine any negative effects of specific blood product transfusion after resection of hepatic colorectal metastases (CRM). Retrospective review of patients undergoing hepatectomy for CRM from 1995 to 2009 at a single institution was performed. Specific attention was paid to the effect of blood transfusion within 30 days of operation on overall survival, disease-free survival (DFS), and complications. To mitigate the bias introduced by complications that require blood transfusion to treat, only nonbleeding complications were considered. Complications were analyzed with univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Survival was analyzed according to Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards. There were 239 patients included in the study. There were 64 (26.8%) receiving a transfusion of any kind with 25.5 per cent getting red cells (PRBCs), 7.11 per cent getting fresh-frozen plasma, and 3.77 per cent getting platelets. Multivariate analysis revealed only PRBC transfusion to be independently associated with nonbleeding complications (odds ratio, 1.980; 95% confidence interval, 1.094 to 3.582; P = 0.0239). There was no significant adverse effect of transfusion with any product on overall or DFS. PRBC transfusion appears to increase the risk of postoperative complications; thus, strategies to minimize blood use may be warranted.