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Transfusion in Traumatic Brain Injury

  • Critical Care Neurology (K Sheth, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Neurology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

There are three primary blood products that are often transfused in traumatic brain injury: packed red blood cells (pRBCs), platelets, and plasma. For pRBCs, hemoglobin thresholds for transfusion in anemia should be set at 7 g/dl. Higher threshold is warranted only when the patient is clinically symptomatic. For platelets, transfusion thresholds should be at least 50,000/mm3 for patients without and 100,000/mm3 for patients with evidence of hemorrhage. Reversal of antiplatelet therapy with platelet transfusion is advisable only in patients with active bleeding. Tests for platelet function are helpful in determining an adequate platelet transfusion in these situations. Fresh frozen plasma transfusion for correction of warfarin-induced coagulopathy is also advisable in patients with active bleeding. If available, activated factor VII can be used in refractory cases. Prothrombin concentrate complexes are also another alternative in refractory situations. Transfusion goals for patients with evidence of hemorrhage should be an international normalization ratio of 1.3 or less. Prophylactic transfusion of plasma in severe traumatic brain injury without intracranial hemorrhage has not been demonstrated to improve outcome. In all situations of product transfusion, patients should be closely observed for signs of volume overload and the development of transfusion-related acute lung injury. The benefit of product transfusion should always be weighed against the risk of a transfusion-related complication.

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Conflict of Interest

G. Duemani Reddy, Shankar Gopinath, and Claudia S. Robertson declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    G. Duemani Reddy MD, PHD, Shankar Gopinath MD & Claudia S. Robertson MD

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  1. G. Duemani Reddy MD, PHD
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  2. Shankar Gopinath MD
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  3. Claudia S. Robertson MD
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Correspondence to Claudia S. Robertson MD.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Critical Care Neurology

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Reddy, G.D., Gopinath, S. & Robertson, C.S. Transfusion in Traumatic Brain Injury. Curr Treat Options Neurol 17, 46 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11940-015-0379-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11940-015-0379-9

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