[Preoperative Preparation: Patient Blood Management - What is Optimal?]

Patient Blood Management (PBM) focusses on anemia management, the minimization of (unnecessary) iatrogenic blood loss and the exhaustion of natural tolerance to anemia with rational use of red blood cell transfusion. The focus of the current review article is now the preoperative phase with the following PBM components: management of anemia, pre-transfusion analytics and management of anticoagulants. Preoperative anemia is an independent risk factor for increased perioperative morbidity and mortality. In elective surgery, the causes of anemia should be diagnosed prior to surgery as early as possible, and if indicated, a specific treatment for treatable causes should be initiated. Preoperative pre-transfusion analytics should be performed by a step-wise approach depending on the transfusion probability (and the baseline hemoglobin) and current in-house data. Management of (oral) anticoagulants needs to consider an individual risk stratification for bleeding and thromboembolic events, should be initiated in the preoperative phase, and should specify whether the anticoagulant needs to be continued, stopped or bridged. Long-term success of the preoperative PBM program can only be guaranteed with clearly defined responsibilities in the preoperative PBM team, communication and training of all those involved in the process of care.