June 21, 2022
Background:
Transfusion Requirements in Cardiac Surgery III (TRICS III), a multi-center randomized controlled trial, demonstrated clinical non-inferiority for restrictive versus liberal RBC transfusion for patients undergoing cardiac surgery. However, it is uncertain if transfusion strategy affects long-term health-related quality of life (HRQOL).
Study Design and Methods:
In this planned sub-study of Australian patients in TRICS III, we sought to determine the non-inferiority of restrictive versus liberal transfusion strategy on long-term HRQOL and to describe clinical out- comes 24 months postoperatively. The restrictive strategy involved transfusing RBCs when hemoglobin was <7.5 g/dl; the transfusion triggers in the liberal group were: <9.5 g/L intraoperatively, <9.5 g/L in intensive care, or <8.5 g/dl on the ward. HRQOL assessments were performed using the 36-item short form survey version 2 (SF-36v2). Primary outcome was non-inferiority of sum- mary measures of SF-36v2 at 12 months, (non-inferiority margin: 0.25 effect size; restrictive minus liberal scores). Secondary outcomes included non- inferiority of HRQOL at 18 and 24 months.
Results:
Six hundred seventeen Australian patients received allocated ran- domization; HRQOL data were available for 208/311 in restrictive and 217/306 in liberal group. After multiple imputation, non-inferiority of restrictive trans- fusion at 12 months was not demonstrated for HRQOL, and the estimates were directionally in favor of liberal transfusion. Non-inferiority also could not be concluded at 18 and 24 months. Sensitivity analyses supported these results. There were no differences in quality-adjusted life years or composite clinical outcomes up to 24 months after surgery.
Discussion:
The non-inferiority of a restrictive compared to a liberal transfusion strategy was not established for long-term HRQOL in this dataset.
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