ReviewCritical care (London, England)2016
Anemia management after acute brain injury.
Review in Critical care (London, England), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
61 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 131 citations in OpenAlex.
- Restrictive vs. Liberal Transfusion Strategy in Critically Ill Patients with Acute Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Neurocritical care · 2026Pooled it
- Red blood cell transfusion strategy in traumatic brain injury patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of medical research · 2025Pooled it
- Hemoglobin as a prognostic marker for neurological outcomes in post-cardiac arrest patients: a meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Potential Efficacy of Erythropoietin on Reducing the Risk of Mortality in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.BioMed research international · 2020Pooled it
- Associations of Anemia With Outcomes in Patients With Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Pooled it
- Recommendations on RBC Transfusion in General Critically Ill Children Based on Hemoglobin and/or Physiologic Thresholds From the Pediatric Critical Care Transfusion and Anemia Expertise Initiative.Pediatric critical care medicine : a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies · 2018Guideline
- Restrictive vs Liberal Transfusion Strategy in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Secondary Analysis of the TRAIN Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Liberal versus restrictive transfusion strategies in subarachnoid hemorrhage: a secondary analysis of the TRAIN study.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Anemia From Inflammation After Intracerebral Hemorrhage and Relationships With Outcome.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2024Trial
- Optimal Transfusion Thresholds in Patients with Acute Brain Injury: A Bayesian Network Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Neurocritical care · 2026Article
- Intracranial pressure physiology, monitoring and individualized management in the acute brain injured patient.Intensive care medicine · 2026Review
- Timing of Transfusion Strategy Initiation in Acute Brain Injury: A Subanalysis of the TRAIN Study.Neurocritical care · 2026Article
- Prognostic value of initial hemoglobin levels for neurological outcomes in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in South Korea.Acute and critical care · 2026Article
- Hemoglobin Trajectory Phenotypes and Neurological Outcomes in a Neurosurgical ICU Cohort.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Recommendations for implementing patient blood management-an updated modified Delphi consensus from a multidisciplinary expert panel in Hong Kong.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2026Review
- Physiological determinants and the red blood cells transfusion decision-making process in non-bleeding critically ill patients: a comprehensive narrative review.Intensive care medicine · 2026Review
- Liberal Versus Restrictive Blood Transfusion Strategies in Neurocritical Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Critical care research and practice · 2026Article
- Effect of Red Blood Cell Transfusion on Cerebral Ischemia in Critically Ill Patients with Acute Brain Injury.Neurocritical care · 2025Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Anemia is frequent among brain-injured patients, where it has been associated with an increased risk of poor outcome. The pathophysiology of anemia in this patient population remains multifactorial; moreover, whether anemia merely reflects a higher severity of the underlying disease or is a significant determinant of the neurological recovery of such patients remains unclear. Interestingly, the effects of red blood cell transfusions (RBCT) in moderately anemic patients remain controversial; although hemoglobin levels are increased, different studies observed only a modest and inconsistent improvement in cerebral oxygenation after RBCT and raised serious concerns about the risk of increased complications. Thus, considering this "blood transfusion anemia paradox", the optimal hemoglobin level to trigger RBCT in brain-injured patients has not been defined yet; also, there is insufficient evidence to provide strong recommendations regarding which hemoglobin level to target and which associated transfusion strategy (restrictive versus liberal) to select in this patient population. We summarize in this review article the more relevant studies evaluating the effects of anemia and RBCT in patients with an acute neurological condition; also, we propose some potential strategies to optimize transfusion management in such patients.
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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.