Evidence mapPaperPMID 32080942Full record

ArticleTransfusion medicine (Oxford, England)2020

Pre-hospital transfusion of red blood cells. Part 1: A scoping review of current practice and transfusion triggers.

Elisabeth C van Turenhout, Sebastiaan M Bossers, Stephan A Loer, Georgios F Giannakopoulos, Lothar A Schwarte, Patrick Schober

Open access · hybridAbstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in Transfusion medicine (Oxford, England), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. Blood transfusion training for prehospital providers: a scoping review.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025
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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

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Elisabeth C van TurenhoutDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3168-0427
Sebastiaan M BossersDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2396-2777
Stephan A LoerDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Georgios F GiannakopoulosDepartment of Trauma Surgery, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Lothar A SchwarteDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Patrick SchoberDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0814-081X
Amsterdam University Medical Centers · NL

Funding

Amsterdam University Medical Centre, VU University Medical Centre, Department of Anaesthesiology
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe primary aim of this scoping review is to describe the current use of pre-hospital transfusion of red blood cells (PHTRBC) and to evaluate criteria used to initiate PHTRBC. The effects on patients' outcomes will be reviewed in Part 2.

backgroundHaemorrhage is a preventable cause of death in trauma patients, and transfusion of red blood cells is increasingly used by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for damage control resuscitation. However, there are no guidelines and little consensus on when to initiate PHTRBC.

methodsPubMed and Web of Science were searched through January 2019; 71 articles were included.

resultsTransfusion triggers vary widely and involve vital signs, clinical signs of poor tissue perfusion, point of care measurements and pre-hospital ultrasound imaging. In particular, hypotension (most often defined as systolic blood pressure ≤ 90 mmHg), tachycardia (most often defined as heart rate ≥ 120/min), clinical signs of poor perfusion (eg, prolonged capillary refill time or changes in mental status) and injury type (ie, penetrating wounds) are common pre-hospital transfusion triggers.

conclusionsPHTRBC is increasingly used by Emergency Medical Services, but guidelines on when to initiate transfusion are lacking. We identified the most commonly used transfusion criteria, and these findings may provide the basis for consensus-based pre-hospital transfusion protocols.

Indexed as

Blood TransfusionEmergency Medical ServicesResuscitationHemorrhageHumansdamage control resuscitationemergency medical servicemajor haemorrhagepre-hospital transfusionred blood cellstransfusion criteria

Identifiers

PMID32080942
PMCPMC7317877
OpenAlexW3007172111

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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 Socratic graph.