Impact of Blood Transfusion During Definitive Stabilization Surgeries on Pelvic Fracture Patient Clinical Outcomes

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-145241/v1

Abstract

Background: Orthopaedic definitive stabilization surgeries are conducted when pelvic fracture patients are stabilized and blood transfusion is usually inevitable for patients undergo major surgeries and few studies provide insight into the influence of the intraoperative transfusion of packed red blood cells (PRBCs) on the outcomes of pelvic patients . As it presents a risk to the recipient by inducing uncertain morbidity and mortality, this study was aiming at the influence of PRBCs during such surgeries on clinical outcomes of pelvic fracture patients.

Methods: 300 patients were collected and 103 patients were analyzed after exclusion. According to the units of intraoperative transfused PRBCs, 52 patients were in the <3U PRBCs group, 39 patients were in the 3-6U group and 12 patients were in the >6U group. Their characteristics, blood tests, details during surgeries, and outcomes were evaluated.

Results: Patients in the>6U PRBCs group were more likely admitted with hemorrhagic shock, lower blood platelet count (BPC) and higher Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) (all p<0.05). Blood tests of them at admission revealed higher levels of serum creatinine (Scr), prothrombin time (PT) and thromboplastin time (APTT), lower level of total serum protein (TSP), serum albumin (SA), and serum globulin (SG) (all p<0.05). They underwent more subsequent surgeries and intensive care unit (ICU) stays (all p<0.001). No significant differences between complications and clinical outcomes were observed among three groups. Increased intraoperative transfusion of PRBCs was an independent factor for increased numbers of subsequent surgeries after orthopaedic surgeries, and prolonged ICU days.

Conclusions: More intraoperative transfusion during orthopedic fixation surgeries indicated patients with more possibilities of hemorrhagic shock, severe pelvic injury, renal injury, and coagulopathy at admission. Increased intraoperative blood transfusion was associated with more ICU days and increased re-operations, whereas it wouldn’t increase the risk of more complications or worsen clinical outcomes.

Background

With the progress of the society and development of the modern industry, the incidence of orthopaedic injuries worldwide is increasing with the increasing numbers of traffic accidents and industrial accidents. Among the most complex orthopaedic injuries are pelvic and acetabular fractures [1], pelvic fracture patients are frequently observed with severe trauma and can be critically ill, especially with the presence of organ injuries, abdominal injuries, and even hemorrhagic shock. As for emergency treatment, Damage Control Orthopaedics (DCO) is mainly applied [2], which firstly treats the lesions that cause major bleeding and pathological inflammatory response with a temporary fracture stabilization to avoid the traumatic effect of surgery in patient who is already traumatized, finally, definitive fracture fixation surgery will be conducted when the patient is stabilized and suitable for surgery. Nationwide epidemiological studies in countries conformed that the surgical treatment of pelvic fracture was rapidly rising with the incidence of pelvic fracture [3,4].

To address acute haemorrhage from trauma and surgery, blood transfusion is needed for pelvic fracture patients. Although the blood transfusion plays an indispensable role in saving lives, there is an altercation on the use of blood transfusion. Some researchers reported the improvement of patient outcome on the use of blood transfusion while others suggested that the blood transfusion could result in more complications and prolong the hospital stays [5,6], not to mention the shortage of safe blood is a worldwide acknowledged problem.

Studies on the intraoperative transfusion strategies during orthopaedic fixation surgeries were mostly about autologous blood transfusion and its outcome [7,8], the impact of the intraoperative allogeneic blood transfusion on definitive stabilization surgeries of pelvic fracture patients has not been discussed and still remains unclear. Multiple factors can affect the intraoperative blood transfusion, such as the coagulation function, the estimated blood loss, the type of surgery, and the traumatic condition. This multicenter cohort study investigated the tendency of intraoperative PRBCs transfusion in definitive stabilization surgeries and its effect on the patient clinical outcomes. Our hypothesis was that more intraoperative transfusion of PRBCs would increase the risk of complications, and result in worse outcomes of patients.

Methods

We retrospectively collected the data of pelvic fracture patient from the electronic information systems of five different hospitals, and the study protocol was granted with the local institutional review board approval. All available clinical, laboratory and radiography image results were obtained and recorded from May 2018 to April 2019. The inclusion criteria were (1) pelvic fracture, (2) underwent definitive fixation surgery, (3) received blood transfusion. The exclusion criteria were (1) a pelvic fracture had occurred within 3 months before, (2) pelvic fracture triggered by malignant tumors, (3) co-existing diseases like chronic anemia and/or coagulation disorders, (4) open pelvic fracture.

The demographics and clinical features of patients including age, gender, co-existing diseases, injury mechanisms, Tile classification, fracture sites, associated injuries, AIS, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, time from injury to surgery, preoperative hemoglobin (Hb), defined as the latest Hb level recorded before the surgery, were collected.

The blood test for biochemical and coagulation functions on admission, all defined as the first test after hospital admission, parameters were sorted out and displayed as routine blood test, serum liver function test, serum kidney function test, and conventional coagulation test.

The preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative PRBCs of patients who received different intaoperative PRBCs were analysed. The intraoperative transfusion of PRBCs, intraoperative fluid intake (crystalloid, colloid and blood) and intraoperative fluid loss (the blood loss and the urine output) were demonstrated on Fig. 1. Complications of patients were shown in Fig. 2.

The types of definitive fixation surgeries, curative effects including Matta scoring system, clinical outcomes, subsequent surgeries, hospitalization days, and ICU days were evaluated.

Parameters were displayed on Microsoft Excel and imported into the IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 for further statistical analysis. All data were identified as quantitative variables and qualitative variables. Quantitative variables were tested by Shapiro-Wilk test to identify whether they were normally distributed, if they were, presented them as mean ± standard deviation (SD), if they were not, presented them as median with lower and upper inter quartile range (IQR). Differences of quantitative variables were evaluated by one-way multiple analysis of variance test or Jonckheere-Terpstra test. Qualitative variables were presented as number (percentage) and their differences were compared by Chi-Square test or Fisher’s exact test. We generated an ordinal regression model to analyse the tendency of intraoperative transfusion where factors that were significantly different in univariate analyses were included. Besides, to find out the effect of intraoperative transfusion on numbers of subsequent surgeries and ICU days, multivariate analyses were respectively established. A variance inflation factor <10 confirmed the absence of multicollinearity between the independent variables. A two-tailed p value <0.05 indicated a significant difference.

Results

In this research, data of 300 pelvic fracture patients were obtained from multi-center electronic information systems. After exclusion, 103 patients were divided into three groups according to their transfusion of PRBCs during their definitive stabilization surgeries. 52 (48.1%) patients received 1–3 units PRBCs, 39 (37.9%) patients received 3–6 units PRBCs, and 12 (11.7%) patients received> 6 units PRBCs.

As demonstrated in Table 1, the median age of the patients was 49 years (IQR 32–59) and 57 (55.3%) patients were male. Mechanisms of injury were mainly traffic accidents (58.3%), followed by falls from height (25.2%), crushes (8.7%), falls on the ground (5.8%), and others (1.9%). Tile classifications of fracture types were identified by an experienced orthopaedic surgeon. Patients in three groups did not differ in age, gender, co-existing diseases, injury mechanisms, fracture types, or fracture sites. 4 (33.3%) of 12 patients who were diagnosed with hemorrhagic shock at admission were in the>6U PRBCs group (p = 0.039). Patients in the >6U PRBCs group had higher AIS (p = 0.013). The median time from injury to surgery was 7 hours (IQR 2–12) and the preoperative Hb was 98.7 ± 18.6 g/L. No significant differences in respect to ASA, the time from injury to surgery and the preoperative Hb were found among three groups.

The routine blood test, serum liver function test, serum kidney function test and coagulation test on admission were summarized in Table 2. No significant difference on the routine blood test was found among three groups except the blood platelet count (BPC). The BPC was lower in the >6U PRBCs group (p = 0.011). Parameters of the blood chemistry test for the kidney function didn’t differ among three groups except Scr, which was significant higher in the >6U PRBCs group (p = 0.007). From the results of the blood chemistry test for the liver function, we could see that total serum protein (TSP), serum albumin (SA), and serum globulin (SG) were significant lower in the >6U PRBCs group (all p<0.01). In regard to conventional coagulation test, PT and APTT prolonged in the >6U PRBCs group (all p<0.05).

As shown in Table 3, there were no differences between three groups about the preoperative and postoperative transfusions of PRBCs (all p>0.05). The median intraoperative transfusion of PRBCs was 1.5 units (IQR 0–2) in the <3U group, 4 units (IQR 3.6–4) in the 3–6U PRBCs group and 9.75 units (IQR 8.3–10) in the >6U PRBCs group(p<0.01). Intraoperative fluid intake and output were exhibited in Fig. 1, compared with2500 mL (IQR 1500–3200) in the <3U group, the median intraoperative fluid intake was significantly higher with 3975 mL (IQR 3025–5687.5) in the 3–6U group and 5475 mL (IQR 3812.5–7462.5) in the >6U group (all p<0.01). Compared with 600 mL (IQR 300–1050) in the <3U group, the median fluid output was significant higher with 1585 mL (IQR 1000–2390) in the 3–6U group and 2375 mL (IQR 1225–3900) in the >6U group (all p<0.01). Seen from Table 4, there were no differences among three groups on types of procedures regarding the fracture sites performed in definitive orthopaedic stabilization surgeries (all p>0.05). The fracture quality reduction based on the plain film was assessed by an experienced orthopaedic surgeon, using a Matta scoring system [9], which is based on the maximum displacement on the radiograph of the anteroposterior and oblique. “Excellent” represents the hip joint normal, “good” represents mild changes (<1mm), "fair" represents intermediate changes (2~3mm) and "poor" represents major changes (>3mm). No significant differences of complications, Mata scores and clinical outcomes were observed among three groups. Patients in the >6U PRBCs group underwent more subsequent surgeries after the orthopaedic surgeries and were associated with longer length of ICU stays (all p<0.01). No significant differences among three groups on complications were observed in Fig. 2. Six patients developed complications, which included pneumonia, anaphylaxis, infection, fever, deep venous thrombosis, and pressure ulcer.

Multivariate analyses were respectively established to discover the effects of intraoperative transfusion of PRBCs, presence of hemorrhagic shock, AIS, BPC, Scr, SA, SG, PT, APTT, and intraoperative fluid output on overall transfusions and clinical outcomes. TSP was with significant difference in univariate analyses but was eliminated in multivariate analyses, and multicollinearity diagnostics confirmed no multicollinearities existed among other factors. The results were concluded in Table 5. The increased intraoperative transfusion of PRBCs was an independent factor which was associated with increased transfusions of PRBCs (p<0.01) and FFP (p = 0.027), numbers of subsequent surgeries after orthopaedic fixation surgeries (p = 0.002), and prolonged ICU days (p<0.01).

Discussion

Orthopaedic trauma patients, especially pelvis fractures, are mostly associated with blood transfusion for their surgical interventions [10]. PRBCs are prepared to prevent and address hemorrhage during definitive fixation surgery. With the awareness of potential risks and further study proving that the intraoperative transfusion can present a risk to the recipient by inducing transfusion-related immunomodulation and systemic inflammatory response syndrome, the intraoperative transfusion is also known for close relation with the postoperative infection [11]. To make it clear, the impact of intraoperative transfusion of PRBCs during definitive stabilization surgeries on the clinical outcomes of the pelvic patients was explored in this study.

In consistency with prior studies [12,13], our research also found that the main mechanism of pelvic fracture injuries was the traffic accident. Our study discovered that patients in the >6U PRBCs group had higher AIS. AIS is an internationally recognized injury severity grading method based on anatomical injury and Injury severity scale (ISS) is derived from AIS. Andrea et al.reported in a retrospective study that the patients who had higher ISS score were more likely to transfuse PRBCs [6]. A previous study conducted by Joathan et al. found that pelvic fracture patients with hemorrhagic shock caused by the retroperitoneal hematoma would increase the possibility of initial transfusion of PRBCs beyond 5 units [14], and other study confirmed it that the presence of hemorrhagic shock was correlated with numbers of transfused blood units [15], in our study, patients who were transfused with more PRBCs in definitive fixation surgeries were more likely admitted with hemorrhagic shock.

We excluded patients with open pelvic fractures because they usually require immediate emergency surgeries after admission. We also excluded patients with anemia or coagulation dysfunction, as pre-existing anemia and bleeding disorders can exacerbate the hemorrhage under the stress of trauma and surgeries [16,17]. Stabilization surgeries, such as open reduction internal fixation, invasive plate osteosynthesis, percutaneous insertion of sacroiliac screws [18], are aimed at recreating stability of the pelvic. Due to the concomitant injuries and limited surgical conditions, definitive fixation surgeries are usually not available immediately. Elective surgeries were performed when the trauma had been controlled. A previous study has discussed the orthopaedic fixation surgery about its optimal time for treatment [19,20], along with its outcome on patients [21,22]. No significant difference on time to surgery was found among the three groups in our study, the median time was 7 days and it was within the recommended 5–8 days after accident [23].

Studies have proven that the thrombocytopenia was responsible for the bleeding complication [24], and low level of blood platelet and coagulation factors resulting from consumption were associated with coagulopathy [25]. Blood loss from trauma can lead to observed hemostatic abnormalities, such as coagulation disturbance and platelet dysfunction [26]. The conventional coagulation tests were an efficient diagnostic means to identify acute traumatic coagulopathy [27]. The appropriate hematological testing was performed after admission to see the blood flow state and coagulation function of patients. Our finding reveled that patients in the>6U PRBCs group had a lower BPC value, which indicated a hemorrhagic tendency. The result of PT and APTT, which prolonged in the >6U PRBCs group indicated the consumption of coagulation factors and a tendency of coagulopathy. Research has shown that kidney and liver tend to be the most vulnerable organs to blunt trauma [28]. The higher Scr in the >6U PRBCs group might reflect the renal injury. SA reflects the function of liver protein synthesis and the elimination half-life of SA is 17–18 days. The quick decrease of SA in a short period of time is mainly caused by large blood loss, therefore the decreased SA in the >6U PRBCs group was due to the massive blood loss and so were the cases with the observed lower SG and TSP of patients in the >6U PRBCs. No differences of complications, quality of fracture reduction, and clinical outcomes among the pelvic fracture patients were found in our study. The intraoperative PRBCs wouldn’t increase the risk of complications or worsen patient clinical outcomes. However, we found in regression analyses that increased intraoperative transfusion was independently associated with more numbers of subsequent surgeries, and prolonged ICU days.

The unplanned subsequent surgeries are relatively common and are for postoperative infection management and fixation failure. A former study pointed open fractures, combined pelvic ring and acetabular injuries, abdominal visceral injuries, and increasing pelvic fracture grade as four independent factors for re-operations [29]. The increased intraoperative PRBCs was identified as an independent factor to the subsequent surgeries in our study. The presence of hemorrhagic shock and prolonged APTT in the >6U group suggested a tendency of coagulopathy and an increase of transfusion may exacerbate it by hemodilution and blood overloads [26,30,31], thereupon, increased transfusion might increase subsequent surgeries by aggravating the risk of transfusion complication. Further studies are required on what types of followed surgeries are increased after the orthopaedic stabilization surgeries. It made sense that the patients in the in the >6U group had longer ICU days, because the prolonged ICU and hospital stays were closely connected with transfusion [32,33], especially with the existence of coagulopathy, for a further study detected that an early correction of coagulation function could effectively reduce consumption of blood product and length of stay [31–34].

The use of a retrospective review method was subject to the inherently present information bias, but the data from 5 centers increased the external validity. Studies with a larger population might be required to confirm the results. We didn't consider the emergency interventions, such as pelvic binders, angio-embolization and extraperitoneal pelvic packing, which may affect the transfusion requirements and mortality of patients [35–37]. Other limitations of our study included not taking into account of confounding factors, such as perioperative anemia.

Conclusions

The research provided insight into the association of PRBCs transfused in definitive stabilization orthopaedic surgeries with the clinical results in pelvic fracture patients. The increased intraoperative transfusion of PRBCs did not increase the risk of complications or worsen the clinical outcomes but was associated with more overall transfusions of PRBCs and frozen fresh plasma(FFP), subsequent surgeries and ICU stays.

Abbreviations

(PRBCs): Packed red blood cells; (BPC): Blood platelet count; (AIS): Abbreviated Injury Scale; (Scr): Serum creatinine; (PT): Prothrombin time; (APTT): Thromboplastin time; (TSP): Total serum protein; (SA): Serum albumin (SG): serum globulin; (ICU): Intensive care unit; (DCO): Damage Control Orthopaedics; (ASA): American Society of Anesthesiologist; (Hb): Hemoglobin; (SD): Standard deviation; (IQR): Inter quartile range; (FFP): Frozen fresh plasma; (ISS): Injury severity scale; (RBC): Red 1blood cell count; (HCT): Hematocrit; (WBC): White blood cell count; (ANC): Absolute neutrophil count; (ALC): Absolute lymphocyte count; (BUN): Serum urea nitrogen; (SUA): Serum uric acid; (TSP): Total serum protein; (ALT): Alanine aminotransferase; (AST): Aspartate aminotransferase; (STB): Serum total bilirubin; (SDB): Serum direct bilirubin; (TT): Thrombin time; (INR): International Normalized Ratio; (FIB): Fibrinogen

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

Funding

There was no funding source for this study.

Authors' contributions

Xiuqiao Xie,Jie Wang, Yuanshuai Huang did the review and designed the study . Rong gui helped organizing technicians in five hospitals to collect data. Xiuqiao Xie analyzed the data with the help of Xue Yuanhuang. Xiuqiao Xie interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors revised and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgements

We thank the technicians in the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, the Third Xiangya Hospital of the Central South University, the Second Xiangya Hospital of the Central South University, the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, and the Aviation General Hospital of China Medical University for collecting and providing data.

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Tables

Table 1

Demographics and Clinical Characteristics of Patients Who Received Different Intraoperative Packed Red Blood Cells

 

<5U PRBCs

(n=52)

5-10U PRBCs

 (n=39)

>10U PRBCs

 (n=12)

Total

(n=103)

p

Age (years),

median (IQR)

52 (40.5-65.5)

52 (40-60)

50.5 (42-65.5)

52 (41.5-63)

0.279

Male gender, n (%)

79(59.4)

28 (48.3)

8 (36.4)

115 (54)

0.164

Co-existing diseases, n (%)

Total no. diseases

75

37

11

123

0.909

Healthy

62 (46.6)

32 (55.2)

10 (45.5)

104 (48.8)

0.536

Hypertension

3 (7.7)

6 (11.5)

1 (8.3)

10 (9.1)

0.891

Diabetes

0 (0)

4 (7.7)

0 (0)

4 (3.6)

0.23

Cardiopathy

2 (5.1)

3 (5.8)

0 (0)

5 (4.5)

1

Others

5 (12.8)

11 (21.2)

2 (16.7)

18 (16.4)

0.574

Injury mechanisms, n (%)

Traffic accident

24 (61.5)

31 (59.6)

5 (41.7)

60 (58.3)

0.515

Fall from height

5 (12.8)

17 (32.7)

4 (33.3)

26 (25.2)

0.071

Fall on the ground

3 (7.7)

2 (3.8)

1 (8.3)

6 (5.8)

0.581

Crush

5 (12.8)

2 (3.8)

2 (16.7)

9 (8.7)

0.127

Others

2 (5.1)

0 (0)

0 (0)

2 (1.9)

0.362

Tile classifications, n (%)

A

13 (33.3)

15 (28.8)

3 (25)

31 (30.1)

0.826

B

15 (38.5)

18 (34.6)

3 (25.5)

36(35.1)

0.702

C

11 (28.2)

19 (36.5)

6 (50)

36(35.1)

0.376

Fracture sites, n (%)

Total no. fractures

52

80

17

149

0.593

Spine

6 (15.4)

5 (9.6)

1 (8.3)

12 (8.1)

0.749

Femur

0 (0)

4 (7.7)

1 (8.3)

5 (3.4)

0.148

Pelvis

33 (84.6)

46 (88.5)

12 (100)

91 (61.1)

0.461

Acetabulum

7 (17.9)

15 (28.8)

3 (25)

25 (16.8)

0.516

Upper limbs

3 (7.7)

2 (3.8)

0 (0)

5 (3.4)

0.813

lower limbs

3 (7.7)

8 (15.4)

0 (0)

11 (7.4)

0.342

Associated injuries, n (%)

Total no. injuries

61

99

24

184

0.452

None

29 (74.4)

42 (80.8)

9 (75)

80 (43.5)

0.746

Head trauma

1 (2.6)

4 (7.7)

0

5 (2.7)

0.54

Organ injury

26 (66.7)

38 (73.1)

8 (66.7)

72 (39.1)

0.785

Nerve injury

1 (2.6)

3 (5.8)

0 (0)

4 (2.2)

0.778

Retroperitoneal hematoma

1 (2.6)

4 (7.7)

1 (8.3)

6 (3.3)

0.479

Hemorrhagic shock

2 (5.1)

7 (13.5)

4 (33.3)

13 (12.6)

0.039

Others

1 (2.6)

1 (1.9)

2 (16.7)

4 (3.9)

0.109

AIS, median (IQR)

2 (2-2)

2 (2-3)

2.5 (2-3)

2 (2-3)

0.013

ASA, median (IQR)

2 (1-3)

2 (1-2)

1 (1-1.75)

2 (1-2)

0.07

Time from injury

to surgery (days),

median (IQR)

7 (3-12)

8 (4-12)

1.5 (0.43-4.75)

7 (2-12)

0.405

Preoperative Hb (g/L),

mean ± SD

101.5 ± 19.5

98.4 ± 17.4

91.4 ± 20.2

98.7 ± 18.6

0.26

PRBCs Packed red blood cells, AIS Abbreviated Injury Scale, IQR Interquartile Range, ASA American Society of Anesthesiologists, Hb Hemoglobin, SD standard deviation

 

Table 2

Blood Tests of Patients Who Received Different Intraoperative Packed Red Blood Cells on Admission

n (%)

<3U PRBCs

52 (48.1)

3-6U PRBCs

39 (37.9)

>6U PRBCs

12 (11.7)

Total

103 (100)

p

Blood routine test

RBC (X1012/L),

 mean ± SD

3.1 ± 0.6

3.1 ± 0.6

2.8 ± 0.6

3.1 ± 0.6

0.202

HCT (%),

mean ± SD

28.4 ± 6.7

27.5 ± 5.4

25.7 ± 7

27.6 ± 6.1

0.423

WBC (X109/L), median (IQR)

10.2 (8.0-12.1)

10.2 (8.2-13.5)

8.2 (5.8-12)

10 (7.9-13.2)

0.461

Hb (g/L),

mean ± SD

93.2 ± 19.1

92.3 ± 17.5

86.8 ± 15.9

92 ± 17.9

0.559

BPC (X109/L), median (IQR)

168 (125-254)

136 (100.5-215)

98 (48-171.8)

140 (103-243)

0.011

ANC (X109/L), median (IQR)

8.5 (6.5-10.6)

8.2 (6.7-11.9)

6.3 (4.1-10.4)

8.2 (6.4-11.4)

0.402

ALC (X109/L), median (IQR)

1 (0.7-1.3)

1.1 (0.6-1.5)

1.1 (0.7-2)

1 (0.7-1.5)

0.356

Serum liver function test

Scr (umol/L),

median (IQR)

59 (44-81)

66 (56.3-91.3)

85 (67.3-103.5)

66 (52-92)

0.007

BUN (mmol/L), median (IQR)

5.6 (3.4-8.2)

5.9 (4.2-7.6)

7.6 (5-8.6)

5.9 (4.3-8.2)

0.156

SUA (umol/L), median (IQR)

244 (142-303)

233.5 (163-343.8)

252 (113.3-305.3)

240.2 (163-308.1)

0.855

Serum liver function test

TSP (g/L),

mean ± SD

57.2 ± 8.6

53.6 ± 8.3

44.9 ± 11

54 ± 9.4

0

SA (g/L),

mean ± SD

33.2 ± 5.1

32.6 ± 4.7

27.2 ± 5.5

32.2 ± 5.2

0.001

SG (g/L),  

median (IQR)

23.3 (19.4-27.3)

20.8 (16.1-25.6)

19.2 (11.7-22.5)

21.4 (17.4-26.2)

0.003

ALT (U/L),  

median (IQR)

44 (23-73)

40.5 (28.1-76.5)

42 (32-168.8)

42 (27-81)

0.433

AST (U/L),

median (IQR)

45 (31-106)

49.5 (28.8-109.3)

70 (54-187.5)

51 (31-109)

0.175

STB (umol/L), median (IQR)

14.6 (12-17.8)

18.5 (11.2-23.9)

15.2 (11.3-22.7)

15.9 (11.6-23.2)

0.651

SDB (umol/L), median (IQR)

5 (3.8-8.4)

5.9 (4-9.7)

6.3 (4.4-9.1)

5.7 (3.9-9.3)

0.204

Conventional coagulation test

PT (s),

median (IQR)

11.9 (11.1-12.8)

12 (11.2-13.6)

14 (11.7-17.4)

12 (11.3-13.4)

0.028

APTT (s),

median (IQR)

29.3 (25.4-34)

29.6 (27-35)

38.5 (29.1-64.8)

30 (26.7-35.1)

0.013

TT(s),

median(IQR)

15.6 (14.5-17)

16.1 (14.8-17.3)

15.3 (14.7-17.7)

15.8 (14.7-17.1)

0.495

INR,

median (IQR)

1 (1-1.1)

1 (1-1.2)

1.2 (1-1.5)

1 (1-1.2)

0.138

FIB (g/L),

median (IQR)

3.4 (2.1-4.5)

3.1 (2-4.9)

5 (1.6-6.6)

3.3 (2.1-5)

0.757

PRBCs Packed red blood cells, RBC Red blood cell count, SD standard deviation, HCT Hematocrit, WBC

White blood cell count, BPC Blood platelet count, IQR Interquartile Range, ANC Absolute neutrophil count, ALC Absolute lymphocyte count, Scr Serum creatinine, BUN Serum urea nitrogen, SUA Serum uric acid, TSP Total serum protein, SA Serum albumin, SG Serum globulin, ALT Alanine aminotransferase, AST Aspartate aminotransferase, STB Serum total bilirubin, SDB Serum direct bilirubin, PT Prothrombin time, APTT Activated partial thromboplastin time, TT Thrombin time, INR International Normalized Ratio,FIB Fibrinogen

 

Table 3

Preoperative, Intraoperative and Postoperative Packed Red Blood Cells of Patients Who Received Different Intaoperative Packed Red Blood Cells

n (%)

<3U PRBCs

52 (48.1)

3-6U PRBCs

39 (37.9)

>6U PRBCs

12 (11.7)

Total

103 (100)

p

 

Preoperative

PRBCs (units), IQR

2 (0-4)

2 (0-4)

1 (0-4.38)

3.5 (2-4)

0.703

Intraoperative

PRBCs (units), IQR

1.5 (0-2)

4 (3.6-4)

9.75 (8.3-10)

2 (0-4)

0

Postoperative

PRBCs (units), IQR

0 (0-0)

0 (0-1.88)

1 (0-6.5)

0 (0-2)

0.075

PRBCs Packed red blood cells, IQR Interquartile Range

 

Table 4

Definitive Fixation Surgery Types and Curative Effects of Patients Who Received Different Intraoperative Packed Red Blood Cells

n (%)

<3U PRBCs

52 (48.1)

3-6U PRBCs

39 (37.9)

>6U PRBCs

12 (11.7)

Total

103 (100)

p

Definitive Fixation Surgery types, n (%)

Total no. surgeries

51

62

15

128

0.713

Spine fixation

6 (15.4)

4 (7.7)

1 (8.3)

11 (8.1)

0.489

Pelvic fixation

19 (48.7)

23 (44.2)

3 (25)

45 (33.3)

0.372

Acetabulum fixation

4 (10.3)

3 (5.8)

2 (16.7)

9 (6.7)

0.31

Femur fixation

4 (10.3)

10 (19.2)

3 (25)

17 (12.6)

0.382

Upper limbs fixation

7 (17.9)

6 (11.5)

2 (16.7)

15 (11.1)

0.664

Lower limbs fixation

7 (17.9)

13 (25)

2 (16.7)

22 (16.3)

0.697

Craniotomy

1 (2.6)

1 (1.9)

0 (0)

2 (1.5)

1

Laparotomy

3 (7.7)

2 (3.8)

2 (16.7)

7 (5.2)

0.26

Matta scores, n (%)

Excellent

7 (17.9)

6 (11.5)

1 (8.3)

14 (13.6)

0.87

Good

7 (17.9)

11 (21.2)

4 (33.3)

22 (21.4)

0.875

Fair

14 (35.9)

18 (34.6)

3 (25)

35 (34)

0.494

Poor

11 (28.2)

17 (32.7)

4 (33.3)

32 (31.1)

0.651

Clinical outcomes, n (%)

Cured

17 (43.6)

26 (50)

7 (58.3)

50 (48.5)

0.641

Improved

21 (53.8)

22 (42.3)

4 (33.3)

47 (45.6)

0.388

Abandoned therapy

0 (0)

2 (3.8)

0 (0)

2 (1.9)

0.614

Death

1 (2.6)

2 (3.8)

1 (8.3)

4 (3.9)

0.583

Numbers of subsequent

Surgeries, median (IQR)

0 (0-1)

0 (0-2)

2 (2-2.75)

0 (0-2)

0.005

Hospital days,

median (IQR)

23 (16-26)

21 (14.3-30)

23.5 (14.3-40.3)

23 (15-28)

0.676

ICU days,

median (IQR)

0 (0-1)

4 (3-6)

6 (3.3-8.8)

3 (0-6)

0

PRBCs Packed red blood cells, IQR Interquartile Range, ICU Intensive care units

 

Table 5

Multiple Regression Analyses on the Effect of Intraoperative Transfusion of Packed Red Blood Cells on Clinical Outcomes

Dependent Variable

Independent Variable

Unstandar-

dized Beta

Standar-

dized Beta

Significance

VIF

Overall PRBCs

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 3-6 U PRBCs group

3.043

0.252

0.004

1.669

 

The >6 U PRBCs group

9.877

0.526

0

2.258

 

Intraoperative FFP

-0.005

-0.223

0.057

3.005

 

Intraoperative blood loss

0.002

0.249

0.077

4.38

 

Intraoperative urine output

0.001

0.068

0.46

1.913

 

Intraoperative infusion

0

-0.073

0.652

5.829

 

BPC

-0.004

-0.086

0.32

1.645

 

Scr

0.038

0.25

0.001

1.257

 

SA

-0.089

-0.077

0.331

1.404

 

SG

0.046

0.047

0.616

1.987

 

PT

-0.027

-0.031

0.704

1.453

 

APTT

0.006

0.012

0.903

2.106

 

Hemorragic shock

5.055

0.278

0.002

1.682

 

AIS

0.398

0.043

0.576

1.33

 

ASA

-0.299

-0.042

0.556

1.151

Overall FFP

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 3-6 U PRBCs group

-42.786

-0.03

0.759

1.669

 

The >6 U PRBCs group

567.832

0.255

0.027

2.258

 

Intraoperative FFP

0.463

0.177

0.178

3.005

 

Intraoperative blood loss

0.165

0.202

0.202

4.38

 

Intraoperative urine output

0.106

0.106

0.311

1.913

 

Intraoperative infusion

-0.055

-0.159

0.383

5.829

 

BPC

0.3

0.057

0.555

1.645

 

Scr

-1.006

-0.056

0.511

1.257

 

SA

23.159

0.169

0.062

1.404

 

SG

-20.949

-0.182

0.09

1.987

 

PT

-7.406

-0.071

0.437

1.453

 

APTT

18.894

0.336

0.003

2.106

 

Hemorragic shock

313.082

0.145

0.14

1.682

 

AIS

-38.027

-0.035

0.689

1.33

 

ASA

15.659

0.019

0.818

1.151

Numbers of subsequent surgeries

 

The 3-6 U PRBCs group

-0.194

-0.077

0.47

1.669

 

The >6 U PRBCs group

1.061

0.27

0.031

2.258

 

Intraoperative FFP

0

0.087

0.542

3.005

 

Intraoperative blood loss

0

-0.136

0.43

4.38

 

Intraoperative urine output

0

-0.095

0.406

1.913

 

Intraoperative infusion

0

0.177

0.374

5.829

 

BPC

0

-0.004

0.968

1.645

 

Scr

-0.002

-0.074

0.425

1.257

 

SA

0.004

0.017

0.861

1.404

 

SG

-0.007

-0.034

0.767

1.987

 

PT

-0.031

-0.167

0.094

1.453

 

APTT

-0.009

-0.09

0.45

2.106

 

Hemorragic shock

1.551

0.408

0

1.682

 

AIS

0.45

0.233

0.015

1.33

 

ASA

-0.003

-0.002

0.98

1.151

ICU days

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 3-6 U PRBCs group

3.555

0.461

0

1.669

 

The >6 U PRBCs group

4.548

0.378

0.001

2.258

 

Intraoperative FFP

-0.001

-0.099

0.455

3.005

 

Intraoperative blood loss

-0.001

-0.198

0.218

4.38

 

Intraoperative urine output

0

0.002

0.986

1.913

 

Intraoperative infusion

0

0.132

0.475

5.829

 

BPC

0.001

0.02

0.835

1.645

 

Scr

-0.013

-0.132

0.127

1.257

 

SA

0.122

0.165

0.071

1.404

 

SG

-0.056

-0.091

0.4

1.987

 

PT

0.028

0.049

0.593

1.453

 

APTT

0.084

0.276

0.014

2.106

 

Hemorragic shock

4.517

0.389

0

1.682

 

AIS

-0.023

-0.004

0.964

1.33

 

ASA

0.11

0.024

0.766

1.151

VIF Variance inflation factor, PRBCs Packed red blood cells, FFP Frozen fresh plasma, BPC Blood platelet count, Scr serum creatinine, SA Serum albumin, SG Serum globulin, PT prothrombin Time, APTT Activated partial thromboplastin time, AIS Abbreviated Injury Scale, ASA American Society of Anesthesiologists