SynthesisThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews2013
Plasma transfusion strategies for critically ill patients.
Synthesis in The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transfusion of blood and blood products for the management of postpartum haemorrhage.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- What Laboratory Tests and Physiologic Triggers Should Guide the Decision to Administer a Platelet or Plasma Transfusion in Critically Ill Children and What Product Attributes Are Optimal to Guide Specific Product Selection? From the Transfusion and Anemia EXpertise Initiative-Control/Avoidance of Bleeding.Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies · 2022Pooled it
- Prehospital Blood Product Resuscitation for Trauma: A Systematic Review.Shock (Augusta, Ga.) · 2016Pooled it
- Trial
- Association between plasma transfusion and in-hospital mortality in severe pneumonia: a propensity score-matched retrospective cohort study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2026Article
- Coagulation assay results at birth in preterm infants: A cohort study highlighting the relevance of local reference values for interpretation.Vox sanguinis · 2025Article
- Overview of Plasma and Platelet Transfusions in Critically Ill Children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2020Review
- Performance of the PEdiatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction-2 score in critically ill children requiring plasma transfusions.Annals of intensive care · 2016Article
- Risk of Procedural Hemorrhage.Chest · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough plasma transfusions are frequently prescribed for critically ill patients, most clinical uses of plasma are not supported by evidence. Plasma transfusions do not seem to correct mild coagulation abnormalities based on international normalised ratio (INR) testing, but they seem to be independently associated with worse clinical outcomes in non-massively bleeding patients. Current recommendations on plasma transfusion strategies advocate limiting plasma transfusions to patients who are actively bleeding or who are at risk of bleeding and concomitantly have moderately abnormal coagulation tests.
objectivesTo determine whether use of a restrictive versus a liberal plasma transfusion threshold affects mortality or morbidity in critically ill patients, and to assess the clinical effects of different plasma transfusion thresholds in critically ill patients. SEARCH
methodsA search for studies was run on 15 August 2013. We searched the Cochrane Injuries Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE(R) Ovid, MEDLINE(R) Ovid In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, MEDLINE(R) Ovid Daily and OLDMEDLINE(R) Ovid, EMBASE Classic + EMBASE (Ovid SP), reference lists, related websites and trial registries and checked lists of references. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised clinical trials that assessed the effects of two plasma transfusion strategies, using a restrictive and a liberal threshold of at least one coagulation test, in critically ill participants. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed trial quality using the standard methods of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. MAIN
resultsOf 843 references identified by our search, none of the trials satisfied our predefined inclusion criteria. No studies are included in this review. AUTHORS'
conclusionsThis review highlights the lack of evidence that is available to guide plasma transfusions in critically ill patients. Randomised controlled trials are needed to determine the appropriate plasma transfusion strategy in critically ill patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.