Breakthroughs in blood: Advancing practice through research

Date of webinar:  October 25, 2024
Webinar details:  The HEMOTION trial: How do we integrate this new knowledge into our clinical practice? 

Publications

Prior to attending this webinar, it is recommended to read the trial publication: Liberal or Restrictive Transfusion Strategy in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury  

Stay tuned for resources and tools to support practice change. 

Date of webinar: September 6, 2024 
Webinar details: The International Collaboration for Transfusion Medicine Guidelines’ (ICTMG) Use of Intravenous Albumin guideline: Moving evidence into practice 

Key takeaways

1. Albumin is a human-derived blood product manufactured from donated plasma that is used in a wide range of clinical settings to improve hemodynamics, facilitate fluid removal, and manage complications of cirrhosis with highly variable practice between regions.  
2. Albumin has been associated with adverse consequences in some cases including fluid overload, hypotension, hemodilution requiring red blood cell transfusion and anaphylaxis.
3. ICTMG's Use of Intravenous Albumin guideline provides clinicians with actionable, evidence-based recommendations on indications for albumin use. Twelve of the fourteen recommendations do not suggest albumin use in a wide variety of clinical situations where it is commonly transfused.

Publications 

ICTMG publications

• Guideline: Intravenous albumin | ICTMG 
• Systematic review of the evidence for patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery: Intravenous albumin in cardiac and vascular surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis - British Journal of Anaesthesia (bjanaesthesia.org) 

Other publications

• CHEST Critical Care Commentary (July 2024): Use of albumin in critically ill patients | CHEST Physician (mdedge.com)

Resources and tools to support practice change

1.  Mythbusters resource: A downloadable resource to address common myths about intravenous albumin and encourage evidence-based decisions regarding its use.

2.  Knowledge Mobilization project: The ICTMG is undertaking a 1-year knowledge mobilization (KM) project to support the uptake of guideline recommendations into clinical practice by developing and utilizing knowledge mobilization resources, tools, and strategies. To access resources developed through this project, visit ICTMG.org/albumin where updates will be posted as they become available.

Date of webinar: December 1, 2023
Webinar details: Restrictive or liberal transfusion strategy in myocardial infarction and anemia

Key takeaways

1. The MINT trial did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference in the rate of 30-day death or recurrent MI in patients with acute MI and anemia assigned to a restrictive compared to a liberal transfusion strategy 
2. While not statistically significant, the point estimates for the primary outcome and secondary outcomes consistently favored a liberal transfusion strategy 
3. Heart failure and other safety outcomes were comparable in the restrictive and liberal transfusion groups 

Publication

Restrictive or Liberal Transfusion Strategy in Myocardial Infarction and Anemia | NEJM

Webinar recording

Resources and tools to support practice change

1.  Questions and answers - Restrictive or liberal transfusion strategy in myocardial infarction and anemia

Date of webinar: November 17, 2023
Webinar details: Anemia in hospitalized patients: Vampirism and other tales

Key takeaways

1. Small volume sample collection tubes can be successfully implemented without additional costs or impacts on laboratory testing results.
2. Small volume sample collection tubes reduce diagnostic blood loss and iatrogenic anemia.
3. Small volume sample collection tubes reduce volumes of blood transfused in critical care patients.

Publication

Small-Volume Blood Collection Tubes to Reduce Transfusions in Intensive Care: The STRATUS Randomized Clinical Trial - PubMed (nih.gov)

Webinar recording