Platelet transfusion policy reaches bottom with new NEJM study.
Researchers from Amsterdam UMC and eight other Dutch hospitals have found that being increasingly restrictive in preventive blood transfusion is not always understandable. The study focused on whether a platelet transfusion is necessary to be able to insert a catheter safely. Patients with very few platelets actually have less bleeding if they are transfused prior to CVC placement. The researchers suggest that any possible cost savings should always be properly investigated and that the cost-benefit assessment can work out differently for different patients.