Anesthesia for Patients with Anemia

Anemia is a common and often ignored condition in surgical patients. Anemia is usually multifactorial and iron deficiency and inflammation are commonly involved. An exacerbating factor in surgical patients is iatrogenic blood loss. Anemia has been repeatedly shown to be an independent predictor of worse outcomes. Patient blood management (PBM) provides a multimodality framework for prevention and management of anemia and related risk factors. The key strategies in PBM include support of hematopoiesis and improving hemoglobin level, optimizing coagulation and hemostasis, use of interdisciplinary blood conservation modalities, and patient-centered decision making throughout the course of care.