Transfusions Refusing Population Transfusions Accepting Population p value
No. of patients 202 4700  
Blood loss at 24 h (ml) 600±450 660±380 0.17
Intraoperative blood salvage (ml) 370±250 390±230 0.11
Postoperative blood salvage (ml) 350±370 330±340 0.12
Allogenic RBC transfusion (units) 0.0 1.11±1.9 0.02
Fresh frozen plasma transfusion (units) 0.0 0.94±1.3 0.01
Platelet transfusion (units) 0.0 0.12±0.9 0.02
ICU stay (days) 2.45±1.7 2.63±1.9 0.31
Perioperative MI (%) 2.8% 2.6% 0.21
Peak troponin level (nmol/l) 5.6±7.2 4.7±6.5 0.16
Epileptic syndrome (%) 3.9% 3.5% 0.17
Focal neurological damage (%) 2.4% 2.1% 0.10
Generalized neurological damage (%) 1.4% 1.9% 0.13
Bleeding at 6 h (ml) 360±370 330±400 0.11
Bleeding at 12 h (ml) 480±390 510±410 0.09
Bleeding at 24 h (ml) 620±450 640±360 0.11
Revision for haemostasis (%) 3.2% 4.5% 0.07
Cardiac tamponade (%) 2.9% 3.2% 0.19
Atrial fibrillation (%) 29.2% 33.4% 0.04
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (%) 7.7% 5.9% 0.23
Acute pulmonary edema (%) 3.8% 4.6% 0.13
Pneumonia (%) 5.9% 6.5% 0.14
Need for reintubation (%) 5.6% 5.4% 0.13
Increase in liver enzymes (%) 6.5% 6.9% 0.17
Bowel ischaemia (%) 2.9% 2.5% 0.20
Creatinine level before surgery (mmol/l) 1.22±0.8 1.29±0.7 0.19
Maximum creatinine level (mmol/l) 1.94±0.6 2.27±0.9 0.19
First 24-h urine output (ml) 1820±700 1740±800 0.21
Use of fenoldopam (%) 7.90% 6.70% 0.18
Need for haemo-dia-filtration (%) 6.6% 4.10% 0.11
Need for insulin infusion (%) 19.0% 17.0% 0.10
Fluid balance on discharge from ICU (ml) 540±350 590±340 0.11
Central venous pressure on discharge from ICU (mmHg) 11±3 12±3 0.27
Length of stay after operation (days) 6.7±2.1 7.2±3.0 0.10
Neurological complications at 30 days (%) 2.3% 2.2% 0.26
Long-term wound infection (%) 5.5% 5.7% 0.09
Deep vein thrombosis (%) 1.7% 2.4% 0.03
Renal failure (%) 3.3% 3.6% 0.15
30-day overall mortality (%) 3.1% 2.7% 0.23
No. of patients 202 4700  
Blood loss at 24 h (ml) 600±450 660±380 0.17
Intraoperative blood salvage (ml) 370±250 390±230 0.11
Postoperative blood salvage (ml) 350±370 330±340 0.12
Allogenic RBC transfusion (units) 0.0 1.11±1.9 0.02
Fresh frozen plasma transfusion (units) 0.0 0.94±1.3 0.01
Platelet transfusion (units) 0.0 0.12±0.9 0.02
ICU stay (days) 2.45±1.7 2.63±1.9 0.31
Perioperative MI (%) 2.8% 2.6% 0.21
Peak troponin level (nmol/l) 5.6±7.2 4.7±6.5 0.16
Epileptic syndrome (%) 3.9% 3.5% 0.17
Focal neurological damage (%) 2.4% 2.1% 0.10
Generalized neurological damage (%) 1.4% 1.9% 0.13
Bleeding at 6 h (ml) 360±370 330±400 0.11
Bleeding at 12 h (ml) 480±390 510±410 0.09
Bleeding at 24 h (ml) 620±450 640±360 0.11
Revision for haemostasis (%) 3.2% 4.5% 0.07
Cardiac tamponade (%) 2.9% 3.2% 0.19
Atrial fibrillation (%) 29.2% 33.4% 0.04
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (%) 7.7% 5.9% 0.23
Acute pulmonary edema (%) 3.8% 4.6% 0.13
Pneumonia (%) 5.9% 6.5% 0.14
Need for reintubation (%) 5.6% 5.4% 0.13
Increase in liver enzymes (%) 6.5% 6.9% 0.17
Bowel ischaemia (%) 2.9% 2.5% 0.20
Creatinine level before surgery (mmol/l) 1.22±0.8 1.29±0.7 0.19
Maximum creatinine level (mmol/l) 1.94±0.6 2.27±0.9 0.19
First 24-h urine output (ml) 1820±700 1740±800 0.21
Use of fenoldopam (%) 7.90% 6.70% 0.18
Need for haemo-dia-filtration (%) 6.6% 4.10% 0.11
Need for insulin infusion (%) 19.0% 17.0% 0.10
Fluid balance on discharge from ICU (ml) 540±350 590±340 0.11
Central venous pressure on discharge from ICU (mmHg) 11±3 12±3 0.27
Length of stay after operation (days) 6.7±2.1 7.2±3.0 0.10
Neurological complications at 30 days (%) 2.3% 2.2% 0.26
Long-term wound infection (%) 5.5% 5.7% 0.09
Deep vein thrombosis (%) 1.7% 2.4% 0.03
Renal failure (%) 3.3% 3.6% 0.15
30-day overall mortality (%) 3.1% 2.7% 0.23
Table 3: Postoperative occurrences.