AHRQ Stats: Hospital Blood Transfusions

From 2000 to 2013, the number of hospital stays that included a red blood cell transfusion increased by nearly 86 percent. The most common inpatient condition requiring a red blood cell transfusion in 2013 was septicemia followed by gastrointestinal hemorrhage. (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #215: Trends in Hospitalizations With a Red Blood Cell Transfusion, 2000-2013.)

December 2016

Trends in Hospitalizations With a Red Blood Cell Transfusion, 2000-2013

Kamille A. West, M.D., Marguerite L. Barrett, M.S., Brian J. Moore, Ph.D., Jeffery L. Miller, M.D., and Claudia A. Steiner, M.D., M.P.H.

Highlights

Hospital inpatient stays with a red blood cell transfusion increased 85.8 percent from 2000 to 2013, a trend that was not driven solely by increases in the total number of inpatient stays. The percentage of all inpatient stays with a red blood cell transfusion also nearly doubled from 2000 to 2013 (80.6 percent increase).

For all age groups, the percentage of adult inpatient stays with a red blood cell transfusion increased from 2000 to 2013. In 2013, nearly 10 percent of all stays for patients aged 65 years and older included a red blood cell transfusion.

Septicemia was the most frequent principal condition for stays with a red blood cell transfusion in 2013, followed by gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Approximately 40 percent of hospital inpatient stays with a red blood cell transfusion also included a major therapeutic procedure. Treatment of a hip fracture or dislocation was the most frequent major procedure category with a red blood cell transfusion in 2013, followed by hip and knee replacement.

Approximately 34 percent of hospital inpatient stays with a red blood cell transfusion included a minor, but no major, therapeutic procedure. Respiratory intubation and mechanical ventilation was the most frequent minor procedure category with a red blood cell transfusion in 2013, followed by hemodialysis.