Microbiology, time course and clinical characteristics of infection in critically ill patients receiving packed red blood cell transfusion.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Packed red blood cell transfusion has been associated with increased infection in a variety of critically ill patient populations. We evaluated the microbiology and time course of infection in transfused patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) as no data exist on these parameters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of data for all patients admitted to a 24-bed medical-surgical ICU at Cooper University Hospital from July 2003 to September 2006 and entered in the Project Impact database.

RESULTS

A total of 2432 patients were admitted during the study period, of which 609 underwent transfusion. Transfused patients were more likely to develop a nosocomial infection (10.5% vs. 4.9%, P < 0.001). ICU and hospital length of stay were longer in the transfused group (P < 0.001 for both). Mortality was also greater (13.1% vs. 8.7%, P = 0.001). Transfused patients had a shorter time from hospital admission to first infection (P < 0.001) and ICU admission to first infection (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis confirmed transfusion as an independent risk factor for infection, mortality, hospital and ICU length of stay. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococcus and Acinetobacter occurred more often in transfused patients. Acinetobacter accounted for a disproportionate share of infections among transfused patients (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Transfused ICU patients have a higher incidence of nosocomial infection and worse outcomes. Transfused patients had a shorter onset of infection. Acinetobacter infection appears to be particularly common among these patients. Further investigation is merited to better elucidate the mechanism for these findings and their therapeutic and clinical implications.