Is circulating haemoglobin level associated with postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing surgery?
Preoperative haemoglobin level is associated with postoperative outcomes, likely reflecting the severity of the underlying condition necessitating surgery rather than an independent risk factor.
In 1,584 patients who had received an anaesthetic the association was examined between circulating haemoglobin level and the postoperative course (length of hospital stay, the occurrence of a complication, and death). In men a significant association (P<0.05) was found for each index, but in women this was present only for death.It is suggested that the hypothesis which best explains the associations, and is consistent with further analyses of the data, is that the preoperative haemoglobin level reflects the severity of the underlying condition which has necessitated surgery. A randomized clinical trial would test the alternative hypothesis that anaemia constitutes an additional risk in surgical procedures.
Lunn et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
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