As part of the Choosing Wisely campaign, the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) released five recommendations for transfusions:
- Don’t transfuse more units of blood than absolutely necessary.
- Don’t transfuse red blood cells for iron deficiency without hemodynamic instability
- Don’t routinely use blood products to reverse warfarin
- Don’t perform serial blood counts on clinically stable patients
- Don’t transfuse O negative blood except to O negative patients and in emergencies for women of child bearing potential with unknown blood group.
For more information please visit the Choosing Wisely site: http://www.choosingwisely.org/societies/american-association-of-blood-banks/