Effect of Hemoglobin Transfusion Threshold on Cerebral Hemodynamics and Oxygenation

Cerebral dysfunction caused by traumatic brain injury may adversely affect cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation leading to worse outcomes if oxygen capacity is decreased due to anemia. In a randomized clinical trial of 200 patients comparing transfusion thresholds <7 g/dl versus 10 g/dl, where transfusion of leukoreduced packed red blood cells was used to maintain the assigned hemoglobin threshold, no long-term neurological difference was detected. The current study examines secondary outcome measures of intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), and brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO2) in patients enrolled in this randomized clinical trial. We observed a lower hazard for death (hazard ratio [HR]=0.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.02–0.99) during the first 3 days post-injury, and a higher hazard for death after three days (HR=2.55, 95% CI=1.00–6.53) in the 10 g/dl threshold group as compared to the 7 g/dL threshold group. No significant differences were observed for ICP and CPP but MAP was slightly lower in the 7 g/dL group, although the decreased MAP did not result in increased hypotension. Overall brain tissue hypoxia events were not significantly different in the two transfusion threshold groups. When the PbtO2 catheter was placed in normal brain, however, tissue hypoxia occurred in 25% of patients in the 7 g/dL threshold group, compared to 10.2% of patients in the 10 g/dL threshold group (p=0.04). Although we observed a few differences in hemodynamic outcomes between the transfusion threshold groups, none were of major clinical significance and did not affect long-term neurological outcome and mortality.