Surgical red blood cell transfusion practice policies

This supplement to The American Journal of Surgery reports the proceedings of a consensus conference that developed 11 policies for surgical blood management and proposed interventions that would achieve each policy's intended outcome. Interventions were analyzed in terms of patient and physician variables, settings, and other factors that could influence proper application of the intervention. The policies were designed to achieve four clinical outcomes: maximization of oxygen delivery, cost-effective minimization of transfusion risks, education of physicians and patients, and appropriate surgical management of a special surgery subset, Jehovah's Witness patients.