Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32612911›Full record

ArticleAfrican journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence2020

Transfusion, mortality and hemoglobin level: Associations among emergency department patients in Kigali, Rwanda.

Katelyn Moretti, Catalina González Marqués, Stephanie Garbern, Gabin Mbanjumucyo, Chantal Uwamahoro, Francesca L Beaudoin, Siraj Amanullah, Annie Gjelsvik, Adam R Aluisio

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 53% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Katelyn MorettiDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Providence, USA.
Catalina González MarquésDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Providence, USA.
Stephanie GarbernDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Providence, USA.
Gabin MbanjumucyoDepartment of Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Chantal UwamahoroDepartment of Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Francesca L BeaudoinDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Providence, USA.
Siraj AmanullahDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Providence, USA.
Annie GjelsvikBrown University School of Public Health, Providence, USA.
Adam R AluisioDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Brown University Alpert Medical School, Providence, USA.
Brown University · USUniversity of Rwanda · RW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundStudies from high-income countries (HIC) support restrictive blood transfusion thresholds in medical patients. In low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), the etiologies of anemia and baseline health states differ greatly; optimal transfusion thresholds are unknown. This study evaluated the association of packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusion with mortality outcomes across hemoglobin levels amongst emergency center (EC) patients presenting with medical pathology in Kigali, Rwanda.

methodsThis retrospective cohort study was performed using a random sample of patients presenting to the EC at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali. Patients ≥15 years of age, treated for medical emergencies during 2013-16, with EC hemoglobin measurements were included. The relationship between EC PRBC transfusion and patient mortality was evaluated using logistic regression, with stratified analyses performed at hemoglobin levels of 7 mg/dL and 5 mg/dL.

resultsOf 3609 cases sampled, 1116 met inclusion. The median age was 42 years (IQR 29, 60) and 45.2% were female. Transfusion occurred in 12.1% of patients. Hematologic (24.4%) and gastrointestinal pathologies (20.7%) were the primary diagnoses of those transfused. Proportional mortality was higher amongst those receiving transfusions, although not statistically significant (23.7% vs 17.0%, p = 0.06). No significant difference in adjusted odds of overall mortality by PRBC transfusion was found. In stratified analysis, patients receiving EC transfusions with a hemoglobin >5.0 mg/dL, had 2.21 times the odds of mortality (95% CI 1.51-3.21) as compared to those ≤5.0 mg/dL.

conclusionsNo association between PRBC transfusion and odds of mortality was observed amongst EC patients in this LMIC setting. An increased mortality association was found for patients receiving PRBC transfusions with an initial hemoglobin >5 mg/dL. Results suggest benefits from PRBC transfusion are limited as compared to HIC. Further research evaluating emergent transfusion thresholds for medical pathologies should be performed in LMICs to guide practice.

Indexed as

AnemiaBloodEmergencyHemoglobinLMICMortalityRwandaTransfusion

Identifiers

PMID32612911
PMCPMC7320208
OpenAlexW3004461365

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.