ArticleBMC palliative care2019
Does packed red cell transfusion provide symptomatic benefits to cancer palliative patients?: a longitudinal study from a single private oncology center in Nepal.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Red blood cell transfusions in advanced cancer near the end-of-life: narrative review.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2026Review
- Blood Transfusion in End-of-Life Cancer Care: Clinical Evidence, Patient Blood Management and Goal-Concordant Practice.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Transfusion in Hospice-Palliative Care.Journal of hospice and palliative care · 2026Article
- Restrictive Blood Transfusion Policy for the Management of Anemia in Palliative Care in Finland.Palliative medicine reports · 2024Article
- Incidence of anemia and red blood cell (RBC) transfusion requirement in breast cancer.Caspian journal of internal medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPalliative patients generally present with symptoms of dyspnea, easy fatigability, lethargy and feeling of being unwell which can broadly be attributed to one root cause: cancer-related anemia. So, packed red cell transfusion is often carried out aiming to improve patients' functional status. Different cut off hemoglobin values have been suggested, with Hb < 9 g/dL the most commonly accepted. The present study aims at evaluating and comparing the benefits in subjective symptoms of fatigue and breathlessness among transfused and non-transfused palliative patients on Day 0 and Day 7.
methodsHemoglobin values, anemia related subjective symptoms of fatigue and breathlessness were recorded from 122 patients. The patients were re-evaluated on day-7 post-transfusion. The pre and post-transfusion symptomatic benefit was compared in both transfused and non-transfused palliative care patients.
resultsThe currently practiced hemoglobin trigger for packed red cell transfusion is 10 g/dL. The units of packed red cell to be transfused was decided according to the hemoglobin values targeting the rise to > 10 g/dL. A mean 1.36 units were transfused. Statistically significant improvement was observed in patient reported symptoms of fatigue and breathlessness among both transfused and non-transfused palliative patients.
conclusionAnemic cancer palliative patients were found to benefit following packed red cell transfusion, suggesting a favorable association between the transfusion and patient-reported fatigue and dyspnea.
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