Disclosures: Robert L. Mousselli, DO: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: The objective is to monitor patient outcomes while using protocols for blood product transfusions and therapy sessions to establish benchmarks to be followed during inpatient rehabilitation to provide maximum benefit to patients and minimize risk.

Design: This study is a retrospective observational study that has reviewed a randomized 82 patients at our inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) between the ages of 18 – 90 that received a blood transfusion and have a diagnosis of cancer. We have specifically examined at what hemoglobin level these patients received a blood transfusion and if this ultimately effected their main outcome measures.

Setting: An inpatient rehabilitation facility between the years 2016 and 2020.

Participants: Total number of patients in the study: 82. Inclusion Criteria: Age 18-90, Current diagnosis of cancer, Admission into the IRF. Exclusion Criteria: None

Interventions: Not applicable

Main Outcome Measures: Length of stay, discharge disposition, functional independence measures (FIM) change and efficiency, and readmission rates.

Results: There is no statistically significant difference in the measured outcomes of patients that received blood transfusions at a more liberal versus more conservative hemoglobin level.

Conclusions: Blood transfusions are a life saving measure that are performed every day across the world. There are clear guidelines that direct clinicians as to when to provide blood to patients in the acute hospital setting. However, there are no current blood transfusion guidelines that apply specifically to the cancer rehabilitation patient population. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study of its type and a step towards formalizing a transfusion guideline for the inpatient cancer rehabilitation population.

Level of Evidence: Level III

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/blood-transfusion-guidelines-for-the-inpatient-cancer-rehabilitation-population/